As we know, all Daycare Settings are closed due to COVID-19. Children have to stay at home. Parents now have to be multitasking at home, which includes working from home, spending time with their children and doing regular home duties. In fact, this is not easy for all parents, some parents have difficulties dealing with all things at once and trying to give 100% of their attention to their children, sometimes turns out. Here, we offer some professional tips to parents. We hope these tips are helpful for parent.

Que doivent faire les parents si leurs enfants refusent de se coucher à l’heure habituelle pendant une situation de quarantine? / What should parents do if their children refuse to go to bed at the usual time during quarantine situation? 

• Parents should make sure to not break routines. Children need to have consistency and if parents do not do so, children will not understand what they are supposed to do. 
• Before bed time, parents can have story time with their children. This is a good way to calm down and relax their  child minds.
• Parents can give a warm bath to their child. The child will feel comfortable and relaxed after a warm bath, and sleep quality will improve 
• Playing relaxing lullabies or white noise will help children to be relaxed and fall asleep well. 
• Do not do strenuous activities before your children go to bed. Too strenuous exercise (such as jump and run) excites children. These activities interfere with children’s sleep. Parents should try to create a calm and peaceful atmosphere for children.
• Avoid extended periods of screen time during the day. At least 1 hour before going to bed, watching tv is too much stimulation for children’s mind, therefore it should be avoided to allow children’s mind to calm down. 

Comment les parents expliquent-ils à leurs Enfants pourquoi nous devons rester à la maison? / How do parents explain their children why we have to stay home for now

Certainly, it is not easy for all children to understand the current situation and why people should stay home.

It is important for children to receive an age appropriate explanation about what is going on. For this reason parents can apply the following tips: 

• Read some storybooks about viruses and diseases, which are very helpful  for  children to understand this situation. 
• Parents can make a relation between viruses and the current virus and explain their children the importance of having appropriate self-care and to also protect others by staying home.
• Avoid letting children watch the news. Children under age of 7-8 are more susceptible to the heavy content in the news. 
• Use visual help to explain children about germs. You can draw or print some pictures of germs and explain how they go into peoples bodies for example. 

Conseils pour aider les enfants à passer de la maison à la routine de vie quotidienne / Tips to help children transition from staying home to regular daily routines. 

When the situation getting better and better. Children can return to Daycare Settings. How can parents help their children get used to Daycare life again? That’s also a big concern for parents. Children may be already used spend the whole day with their parents, they may not want to separate from their parents again. Consequently, children could have a hard time returning to daycare and some children will probably experience separation anxiety. Here follow some tips for parents to help children transition to “normal life”

• Tell children with one week or few days in advance that soon they will go back to daycare and parents will have to go to work too. This helps children to process the information in their minds. Be careful! Avoid telling children about it with more that 1 week in advance, otherwise this will create anxiety in the child. 
• Every day when parents take their children to daycare. Parents need to tell their children that they will pick them up in the afternoon. Children need to know that their parents will come back to pick them up soon. So the children don’t feel too scared. Parents also need to spend time to say ‘Goodbye’ to their children. 
• On the way to daycare, parents could have a positive conversation with their children. Create a relaxed and warm atmosphere for the children. Children need to have a good mood in the morning. This is an important factor for children to a good day.
• After the parents pick their children up. Parents could chat with their children about the interesting things that happened in daycare today. That can let the children realize that they also spend a good time in daycare.
• Parents should be alert of their child’s thoughts and meet their children’s needs on time. If children have difficulties or seem unhappy, parents should ask children the reasons that make them feel sad and actively find ways to solve the situation giving options to their child. 

During this special situation, we wish all children and parents can keep healthy and safe. We will try our best to support all children and parents. We hope that the information we provide can help parents and children in need. We are happy to help and we are will get through difficulties together.