| Development: |
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Knows full name, age, and sex. Knows address and telephone number. Can count on fingers and count to 10. Bathes, eats, dresses and uses the toilet without help. Speech is easily understood by those outside the family. Recognizes most color and letters of the alphabet. Prints some letters. Plays make believe and dress-up. May be able to skip. Copies a triangle and a square. Left or right handedness evident.
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| Nutrition: |
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Serve 3 regular meals and 2 nutritious snacks a day. Encourage conversation at mealtimes and make them pleasant. Offer nutritious foods and let them decide how much to eat. 5 year olds will imitate the likes and dislikes of their peers. Their list of acceptable foods will increase as you serve a variety of foods and model how to eat them. Offer a fruit and /or vegetable at every meal. Remember that fruits and vegetables are basically interchangeable and the child should not be forced to eat foods they do not like. Enforce desired mealtime behavior, not eating.
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| Oral Health: |
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Continue to brush your child’s teeth twice a day with a fluoridated toothpaste. The manual dexterity to clean their own teeth is present at the age of 4 or 5 so you may want to start teaching your child how to brush his own teeth. Schedule regular dental visits every six months. If your child sucks their fingers or thumb you can begin to intervene. Information can be obtained from our office. Your goal is to eliminate thumb or finger sucking by the time the permanent teeth erupt at the age of 5 or 6. Do not punish the child or create a power struggle because you will lose. With a little help most children will give up thumb sucking naturally.
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| Sleep: |
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5 year olds sleep 10-12 hours a night and have one nap or rest period. Occasional bad dreams or nightmares are normal and are usually related to monsters or the dark. Reassure your child. Talk about the dreams during the day and do not expose them to violent or frightening movies or TV. Children may experience night terrors anytime after the age of 1. During these, the child is frightened but cannot be awakened or comforted, and may scream or talk wildly. Speak calmly to the child to reassure them that they are all right and protect them from injury. These episodes usually last 10-30 minutes. The child cannot remember it the next day.
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| Toilet Training: |
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Most children are toilet trained by the age of 4. They may have occasional accidents caused by illness, changes in the environment, or some traumatic experience. Continued soiling or the return to bed-wetting should be discussed with your physician.
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| Behavior: |
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They are more relaxed and flexible but will still cry and hit sometimes. Encourage the use of language and not physical violence to settle disputes. They need safe boundaries and consistent limits. Demonstrate acceptable behaviors by giving more attention to desirable behaviors instead of concentrating on the undesirable behaviors. They seek approval from adults so praise them for good behavior. Too many rules are confusing. Limit the number of rules and enforce them consistently and promptly. Spend most of your time rewarding good behavior. Discipline at this age can be accomplished by limit setting, the use of time out, and establishing consequences for unacceptable behavior.
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| Injury Prevention: |
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Continue to use car seats at all times because they protect your child from the major threat to his health. Booster seats are recommended as a transition to safety belts for children who are between 4 and 8 years old and 40 and 60 pounds. Seat belts should not be used alone until they fit securely across the child’s hips, do not cross the child’s face or neck, and don’t ride up across the stomach. Helmets should be worn at all times when riding a trike or a bike, even when in a seat on the parent’s bike. Most injuries on bikes involve falls not cars. Know where the child is at all times. They are too young to be roaming the neighborhood alone. Provide constant supervision by an adult whenever the child is around water, bathtubs or pools. Teach the child to swim and use life jackets for boating or swimming. Swimming pools should be completely enclosed by a fence and self locking gate. Obtain a bottle of Ipecac to have on hand should your child ingest a harmful substance. Obtain instructions from the poison control center or other health professional before using it.
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| Safety Tips: |
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- Use plastic plugs for outlets and safety latches on cabinets and drawers.
- Keep poisonous substances out of reach or behind locked doors.
- Keep sharp objects, lighters, matches, alcohol and electrical tools out of the child’s sight and reach.
- Guns should be stored outside the home if possible. If not, lock them in a cabinet and keep the ammunition in a separate location.
- Turn handles of pans on the stove inward. Avoid placing hot liquids where they can be tipped or on surfaces with tablecloths that can be pulled off.
- Use smoke alarms and change the batteries yearly. Never leave a child alone in the house or in a car.
- Never leave a child alone with a pet and teach them to use caution when approaching an eating or unknown dog.
- Keep your child away from moving machinery, driveways and streets. Teach your child pedestrian safety skills.
- Teach your child safety rules with strangers.
- Always use sunscreen with a SPF of 15 or greater.
- Be sure to review "911", good touch/bad touch and road safety.
- Have them memorize your telephone number and address before starting school.
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| Lab Tests: |
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At their 5 year visit your child is tested for anemia through a blood test. A urine sample will be taken and a vision test conducted.
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| Immunizations: |
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A DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis), IPV (polio), and MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) will be given. If your child hasn’t had chicken pox or the chicken pox vaccine, we would recommend that he get it at this time.
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| After the age of 5, based on your child’s needs, a physical exam is recommended every 1-3 years. |
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