Nursery World - Enabling Environments: Collections

Getting the right amount of sleep at home and in settings is essential to children’s well-being. Nicole Weinstein offers some tips and resources

Download the PDF of 'In comfort'

Sleep is fundamental to a child’s well-being, cognitive development and emotional state of mind, yet research reveals that up to 40 per cent of children will at some point experience sleep problems. As a result, early years practitioners need to be well-equipped to advise parents on their child’s sleep patterns (see box), while in the nursery, they need to create an environment that is conducive to sleep, with cots, sleeping mats, calming music, maybe even soothing lavender.

Nursery chain Busy Bees uses a variety of cots in its 342 settings nationwide, depending on the size of the space available and the décor of the nursery. All cots, however, are drop-sided in design, to support staff with lifting, and have good-quality, wipe-clean mattresses.

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