This means everything a child has experienced with sleep from day one at home has been an ongoing learning journey, of how to fall asleep and how to stay asleep. Unpacking all this important information allows the uniqueness of a child’s sleep to guide our work in supporting their wellbeing within the Centre environment.

There should always be a reassuring emphasis on the familiar, with new elements introduced slowly and thoughtfully. The role of a teacher here is to scaffold individual children’s learning to go to sleep and stay asleep in gentle and respectful ways, and at a monitored pace. Some children may take a few days to feel safe, comfortable, and have ‘successful’ sleep in their new environment, but some may take months. 

If we are critical of our own biases and opinions, we can better understand and accept potential differences in family sleep values and practices. We can then explore effective ways to facilitate sleep discussions with caregivers, and how to record and use this information for all teachers to access. Holding regular teaching-team discussions about child’s sleep will create the opportunity for collaboration and group decision making as to how to support individuals achieve quality sleep in your care, and bridge the gap from home.