Well Check-Up / 5 Year Olds
DIET/NUTRITION
Your child should be drinking no more than 16-24 ounces of milk each day. Eating 2-3 servings of other dairy products is good for children who do not drink milk. Continue to offer your child foods from different food groups every day, including fruits and vegetables. Don’t be alarmed if your child refuses a certain food more than once. Many children will eventually try something that they have refused as many as 10 times in the past! Limiting juice intake to no more than 4-6 of 100% fruit or vegetable juice can improve appetite and prevent cavities. If your child refuses to eat at mealtime, you may have to allow him to get down and leave his plate for later. Let him know that when he gets hungry, he may try again to eat his meal, but try to avoid giving him sweets or snacks if he fusses again later. More than anything, mealtime should be pleasant, so try to establish simple rules and sit down together as a family and relax.
DEVELOPMENT
Most five year olds can pedal a bicycle or tricycle, hop on one foot, skip with alternating feet, copy a triangle, and dress and undress themselves with little help. Fine motor skills at this age include zipping and buttoning and holding a pen or pencil to write or draw. Children at this age typically play well with other children, enjoy interactive games, and engage easily in imaginative play. Five year olds should be toilet-trained, although many will still have nighttime wetting accidents. Their speech is very understandable, although they may have some difficulty clearly saying a few sounds. Five year olds can usually count to ten and say their ABCs, and many can spell or write their first names. Reading to your child every day remains a very important tool to help develop his or her own reading skills in school
BEHAVIOR/DISCIPLINE
Provide clear and easy to understand rules for your child and make consequences consistent for bad behavior. Praise for good behavior often works better than punishment for bad behavior, but make sure to carry out whatever penalty you have discussed for broken rules, so your child learns what behavior will not be tolerated and takes your rules seriously. “Pick your battles” by determining what behavior is very important to you and be prepared to let other, minor issues go to avoid feeling like you are always criticizing or reprimanding your child. Using time-outs at this age can be effective with the general rule of 1 minute of time-out for every year of age (5 year old = 5 minute time-outs). Withholding privileges, such as television or computer time, can also be effective.
DENTAL CARE
At this age, it is very important regularly to clean your child’s teeth at bedtime, using a pea-sized amount of toothpaste with fluoride. It is important for an adult to go over all the teeth, especially the back teeth, to make sure all are cleaned. All children should visit the dentist every 6 months.
SAFETY
Five year olds should sit in the backseat of the car—either in a car seat (if they still fit in it) or a booster seat. Indiana law states that all children must sit in car seats or boosters until age 8. Model good behavior by always wearing your own seat belt in the car and teaching your children that the car does not move until everyone is buckled up. Children under 13 years of age should not ride in the front seat of a car—especially a car with an airbag. Bicycle helmets are important for all kids to who ride bikes, even if they do not ride far from home. Again it is important to model good behavior and wear your own helmet if you ever ride a bike. Make sure smoke detectors work and change the batteries twice year. Teach young children not to take things from strangers and never to walk away or get in a car with someone they do not know or anyone without your approval. Children should learn how to dial 911 for emergencies only. Use sunscreen and insect repellent when outdoors. If you keep firearms in the home, keep them locked with ammunition kept separately, and teach young children never to touch guns