Your Child's 5 Year Visit
NUTRITION
Your 5 year old may enjoy helping to choose and prepare the family meals with supervision. The family kitchen is no place for short-order cooking or bargaining over food. Your job as parent is to provide a balanced selection of foods at meals; it is your child’s decision to eat it. Mealtimes should be social occasions that provide important opportunities for sharing events of the day. Therefore, even if your child doesn’t like the food that’s being served, you should still expect her to join the rest of the family at the table. Let her help herself to bread, salad, and whatever else is on the table, but don’t offer an alternative food in place of the dish she has turned down. If she’s hungry later, offer to reheat leftovers or suggest another healthy choice. The one food you shouldn’t offer is the alternative she originally demanded. Bribes are often counterproductive; they make children resistant to foods they feel neutral about – “if they have to bribe me to eat this stuff, it must be really bad.” Most children outgrow their picky eating if meals do not become battles of wills.
SLEEPING
Some 5 year olds still require a short midday nap, and their bedtime is usually between 7 and 8 pm. Having a bedtime routine and a consistent time for bed will help prevent many sleep problems. Continue reading to your child as part of quiet time before bed. Fears of the dark, thunder, lightning, etc are common at this age. Using a night light, security blanket or toy are all ways to help lessen nighttime fears. Nightmares will sometimes waken a child from sleep. The nightmares can be triggered by changes or stress. Comfort your child and put her back to bed.
Continue encouraging your child to brush teeth at least twice each day with a soft toothbrush using a pea-size amount of toothpaste. Make an appointment twice a year with the dentist for a check-up.
PLAYTIME & PARENTING
Children at this age enjoy sand and water play, books, and reading. Pretend play, using both toys and household objects, is developing. Passive play (such as TV viewing) should be limited to less than 2 hours per day.
Playmates are important. Allow your child to interact with other school age children. This can be accomplished in preschool, play groups, or simply having another child over for a few hours.
Having direct conversations with your child improves her language development. TV and radio do not do so. Encourage your child to talk about her day or other topics of interest.
Show your affection by your behavior, not just words (so give unexpected hugs, quiet time together). Each parent should spend some time alone with each child each day.
Help siblings learn to resolve conflict and anger.
Don’t worry if the child becomes curious about body parts. This is normal at this age. Always use the correct term for genitals.
DISCIPLINE
Discipline should continue to be firm and consistent but loving and understanding. Use the two I’s of discipline (ignore or isolate) rather than the two S’s (shouting, spanking). When disciplining, try to separate the child from his behavior (“I love you, but I do not like it when you touch the DVR”).
Provide alternatives – “No, you cannot play with the telephone, but you may play with these toys”
Try to avoid power struggles. No one wins!
Reinforce good behavior. If you save all your attention for punishment or “NO” then your child will learn to get attention by negative behavior.
SAFETY
Accidents are the number one cause of death for children with almost half of injuries involving motor vehicles.
Children should be restrained in belted booster seats until they are at least 4’9” tall, usually between 8-10 years old. The back seat is the safest place for children to ride.
Have and practice a fire escape plan!
Teach your child never to play with matches or lighters!
Poison-proof your house. Keep unsafe items (and all medicines) out of reach and locked up.
Guns in the home: teach children to respect guns and that they are not toys. All guns should be locked unloaded, and ammunition should be locked up separately.
Teach your 5 year old all family members names and emergency phone numbers.
Do not allow your child to be near knives, power tools or mowers alone!
Never allow your child to play in or near the street; supervise your child when crossing roads.
Never allow your child to be near pools/hot tubs without supervision!
Start to teach your child his full name, address, and phone number. Start to teach stranger safety – not to follow strangers and not allow themselves to be touched by others in ways they don’t like; teach a safe word to use for how to recognize a trusted adult that may come and pick them up unexpectedly in case of emergencies.
DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES
At this age, children are very imaginative and have lots of energy!
They tend to get along well with friends their age. Be sure to praise lavishly when they share things with others.
This age is generally able to dress without help but they may still need help to thoroughly brush their teeth.
Wetting the bed at night is still very common at this age, talk to the doctor for ways to help your child.
Punishment for dangerous or hurtful behavior is necessary. Making them stand in a corner alone for 5 minutes is usually an effective punishment