Help the child's body learn that daily life is becoming more predictable.
Sleep, meals, movement and calm routines can support regulation after family disruption. The goal is not a perfect schedule overnight, but repeated signals of safety and consistency.
Part of our Protective Factors & Recovery resource series. See the main Protective Factors & Recovery guide for the wider topic and related resources. Following a guided route? Return to the Trauma & behaviour route.
Information reviewed September 2026. Services and clinical guidance can change, so use the linked official source when a current process matters.
Sleep, food, movement and routine are protective factors, not just household management.
Public Health Agency of Canada's protective-factor framework includes sleep, nutrition, physical activity and connection to land and nature across the life course. After family disruption, these basics can also give the child's body repeated signals that daily life is becoming more predictable.
PHAC protective factors for children and youth
Expect routines to need rebuilding.
A child may arrive with a very different sleep schedule, food pattern, screen routine or level of independence. Change the most important safety issues first. Too many new rules at once can make the home feel like another unpredictable system.
Bedtime can be emotionally difficult.
Quiet at night can leave more room for worry about a parent, memories, unfamiliar sounds or fear that another move will happen. A consistent sequence can help: snack, wash, quiet activity, brief check-in, lights out, and a predictable response if the child wakes.
Use co-regulation before expecting self-regulation.
Children often borrow calm from a regulated adult. Lower your voice, use fewer words, slow the pace, reduce the audience and help the child settle before discussing consequences or problem-solving.
Movement and outdoor time can support regulation.
Physical activity and connection to land and nature are protective factors in PHAC's Canadian framework. This does not require organized sport. Walking, playground time, gardening, biking, snow play or simply being outside can be useful if the child enjoys and tolerates it.
Food insecurity or hoarding can have a history.
A child who hides food, overeats quickly or repeatedly asks when the next meal is coming may be responding to previous uncertainty. Keep food access predictable and avoid shaming. If nutrition, growth or eating behaviour is concerning, talk with the child's health provider.
Healthy digital habits matter too.
PHAC includes healthy digital habits among protective factors for school-age children and adolescents. For a child newly in care, phones and messaging may also be tied to parent contact, siblings and identity. Build rules with attention to safety and connection rather than treating the device only as a reward or punishment.
When sleep or regulation needs medical attention.
Talk with a health provider if sleep problems are severe, persistent or linked with breathing concerns, medication, significant anxiety, nightmares, pain or daytime functioning. PEI 8-1-1 can provide non-emergency health advice and navigation.
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