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1- Establish a schedule and keep it as much as possible.
Make the day predictable as much as you can. Have routines or rituals for bed and or the morning. It may be: play time, dinner time, shower, pj's, story time and go to bed. You may even add a short foot or hand massage with some lotion for the smell and the healthy touch and that way they can associate it with bedtime.
2- Simplify your schedule.
Do you really need to do all you do right now? Do you have to participate in every single activity?
Quality is very important and most times, when we're involved in too many activities we can't fully give our attention, affection and care to the ones who need it most.
3- Ensure smooth transitions.
On a daily basis: l
et them know 15, 10 or 5 minutes in advance when you'll switch from one activity to the next. That will help them prepare and adjust for what's next. Some of these children may take a little longer processing information and we need to be mindful of that so we can be patient. For example: ''Hey Lucía, in 15 minutes we're having dinner.'' ''Hey sweetie in 5 minutes we're putting the toys away for dinner.'' And when time comes she should be more willing to do it because you've prepared her in advance. (If she doesn't cooperate remember the IDEAL response, we'll talk about that again in future newsletters :)).
For major transitions such as moving from one house to another or changing schools would be beneficial to talk about it months in advance if possible with your child. Making a Life Book with your child about their past and present could help him/her make sense of his/her story. Adding pictures, drawings, notes that they made or they had in their previous family or institution. Where did he come from, how did he became part of your family and when? who was part of his life? etc.
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