So, your child has just started school and they’re starting to make lots of new friends. Before you know it, they’re asking if they can have a sleepover. Whilst it may seem like a great idea at first, you may begin to doubt yourself asking hundreds of different questions.
- Who are the parents of their friends?
- Where do they live?
- How can we arrange it?
- Finally, is my child ready for a sleepover?
So, at what age should you let your child begin having sleepovers? From a child’s perspective, a sleepover is a big event. It is a time in which they will bond with their friends, tell jokes and stories and laugh the night away. However, they can be a real headache as a parent.
According to scientific research, there is no ‘set age; for kids to begin having sleepovers with variations depending on both the children themselves as well as the perspective from their parents.
For many children, a sleepover will be the first time they have been away from home and is an opportunity to gain independence. This can have a great impact when it comes to summer camps and school trips in which your child must spend a few days away from home.In order to make a decision, you must make sure that your child feels ready for the separation, letting them know that staying at home is perfectly fine if they feel uncomfortable.
In order to help them make a decision, you can let them know that they can call you should they decide to change their mind. If this is the case, make the other parents aware of the situation so that they may take extra care of your child, ensuring they feel both safe and comfortable.
Planning the Sleepover
When planning any sleepover, it is always important that you have good communications with other parents about when kids should arrive, how you can reach them in an emergency, and what you can do if their child becomes scared or displays bad behaviour.
In general, some children will misbehave at sleepovers due to the excitement of the moment. They may do foolish things such as sneaking around the house, as well as eating at strange times in the night. Remember that this is perfectly normal. To prevent it set a curfew and ensure everyone sticks to it. Most importantly remember to have fun. Your child is growing up and you can help them do so. This is an exciting time for you and them and one that you can both learn from!
My daughter is four years old and she loves sleepovers. She enjoys it mainly because she gets to spend time with her family that she doesn’t get to see that often. She also knows that its likely that they will spoil her and give her pancakes for breakfast with honey and fruit.
She loves to be spontaneous trips out to do things that she doesn’t normally do for example she went to the beach and had some fresh crab sticks from a seafood stand. She talks about how she would like to stay at her best friends’ house from school but what age should a child be before being okay for them to have a sleepover.
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