Because of their rapidly improving motor skills, children this age are increasingly able to take care of themselves. And because of their growing independence, they want to! Learn what children this age can do.
Washing
Tooth Care
Dressing
Toileting
Children this age are typically less interested in taking baths than younger children. If the child already has an established hygiene routine, it is easier for the child to accept bathing as expected behavior.
At about 6 years of age, children begin to lose their primary teeth. Over time, their 32 permanent teeth replace the lost baby teeth.
Like bathing, tooth care should be a familiar routine for children before their fourth birthday. Children should be supervised to make sure they are brushing all their teeth with a soft, child-size toothbrush and a toothpaste with fluoride. Children should be taught to spit out, not swallow, toothpaste. This is also a good time to teach children how to floss their teeth.
Children from ages 4 to 6 are usually able to dress themselves unless a garment has complicated fasteners, like buttons down the back. Children this age have definite likes and dislikes about what they wear and are likely to create mismatched outfits if left to choose on their own. In addition, children are beginning to develop a sense of group identification—a sense of belonging. As a result, children may request clothing that is popular with others or that has a popular cartoon character on it.
Children this age are old enough to fold and hang up their clean clothes and to put dirty clothes in the appropriate place. At this stage of development, learning both independence and a sense of responsibility is important.
By this age, children have typically completed toilet training, but they may still have accidents. To prevent accidents, it is a good idea to make sure the child uses the bathroom before leaving home and again after arriving at a destination.
Children frequently need to be reminded to wash their hands after using the toilet.
Bedwetting occurs in about 10 percent of children older than 5 years and is twice as common in boys than in girls. Causes of bedwetting include a child’s bladder not being large enough to hold urine throughout the night or the child not being awakened by the sensation of a full bladder.
Shaming or scolding a child will not stop bedwetting. Rather, the child should be seen by a healthcare provider to rule out any other causes, such as a bladder infection. Generally, time, reassurance, and predictable household routine will bring an end to bedwetting.
