Taking care of a preschooler

Dressing
• Choose clothing that's easy for your child to manage: shoes that slip on or that have Velcro closures instead of laces; pants and skirts with elastic waists.

• Store her clothes so she can easily find them: one drawer for socks and underwear, one for T-shirts, one for trousers.

• If you want your child to pick up after herself, make it easy: Put coat hooks where she can reach them; put a shoe tree in her closet; place a laundry hamper in her room.

• Respect your child's colour and fabric preferences.

• On those occasions when you don't want to rely on your child's fashion sense, offer a choice of clothing: "Would you like to wear the green T-shirt or the yellow T-shirt with your grey pants?" Offer your child freedom of choice, but within a controlled set of choices. This technique works well in a variety of situations.

Visiting the doctor
In preschool, daycare, and playgrounds, a preschooler comes into contact with many more children. It's not unusual for them to get back-to-back colds during this stage. If you're anxious about your child's health but you're not sure that a trip to the doctor is necessary, call your child's doctor to discuss the symptoms. Sorting the problem out by phone may avoid an unnecessary visit to the doctor. Depending on the symptoms, the doctor may want to see the child -- once she has consulted with you on the phone, she bears some responsibility for the outcome of any suggested treatment.

Have your child's vision tested before he begins kindergarten. About 15 per cent of preschool-age children have a vision problem. The earlier such problems are detected, the greater the chance they can be corrected and sometimes even reversed. Routine hearing tests, on the other hand, are not recommended for preschoolers unless you have a particular concern.

Medical conditions like asthma or allergies usually emerge by the time a child is five years old. If your doctor diagnoses these problems, she may refer you to a specialist. Similarly she may refer your child for assessments if she sees indications of speech, language, and learning disorders. Regular check-ups with your family physician are still important for assessment of your child's growth, for booster vaccinations, complete physical exams, review of nutrition, and guidance about changes to expect.