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Problems with your child’s crèche

Research into the effects of childcare on children indicates that good quality childcare does not do any damage to young children provided they have a secure relationship with one or both of their parents. This good relationship will go some way to protecting them if they are in poor quality childcare, but nevertheless poor quality childcare can be emotionally and indeed physically damaging for young children. If a child is experiencing any difficulties in his relationship with his parents, poor quality childcare can be even more damaging to that child.

For this reason, parents need to be extra vigilant when looking for a childcare placement for their young child, and even though there may be pressure on places parents should be careful not to let this pressure blind them to poor childcare set-ups or feel they have to ‘put up’ with situations that are substandard.

The most common childhood sleep problem is frequent waking during the night. This is where a baby or young child continues to wake frequently during the night long past the age at which he would be expected to do so (approximately six months). The main cause of this type of sleep problem is sleep associations. Sleep associations are all the things your child associates with falling asleep.

All children will have slightly different sleep associations. A typical example would be a baby who is always rocked to sleep before being put into the cot. This baby will come to associate being rocked with falling asleep and may in time find it difficult to fall asleep without being rocked. This is not a major problem with a very small baby but can become a problem when baby reaches six months and can not settle on his own.

How to help children cope with change

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One of the reasons children find change such a challenge is that they are creatures of habit. Daily routines make children feel secure, so anything that interferes with these routines has the potential to knock them out of sync and lead to problems.

Some children can adapt sooner than others, and will need less help to manage the stress of change. Change can be obvious, such as moving house, a new baby, or new school. Less obvious change is new work schedules, illness of a family member, bereavement, hospital stay, new teacher, or a friend moving away.

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