Children’s readjustment to preschool following long-term school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic merits special attention. This study examined children’s preschool readjustment using a survey of 1008 teachers in a high-risk region and 1399 teachers in a fluctuating-risk region of China. Results found are as follows. (1) children’s preschool readjustment was at a medium level after the long-term school closures. However, children’s preschool readjustment scores in the fluctuating-risk region were significantly lower than those in the high-risk region. (2) Children in both regions were divided into four profiles based on their preschool readjustment: low-level, middle-level, upper-middle-level, and high-level groups. (3) Preschool transition practices and teachers’ turnover intention are common factors relating to preschool readjustment in both regions. Teachers’ professional development support impacted children’s preschool readjustment only in the high-risk region. The findings inform the design of targeted interventions to help children readjust to preschool across different risk regions.

The present study aimed to investigate the status and relationships between family support for infant and toddler care and parenting stress, and to explore differences related to the number of children in the families. We conducted a survey among 13,390 Chinese parents who were randomly sampled from six provinces of China. Descriptive analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, and regression analysis indicated that (1) current family support for infant and toddler care in China is insufficient; (2) most Chinese parents reported moderate parenting stress, with the highest scores given for parental distress, followed by difficult child, and parent–child dysfunctional interaction; (3) the larger the number of children in the family, the less the family support for infant and toddler care, the greater the parenting stress; (4) there was a difference between the effects of family support for infant and toddler care on relieving parenting stress among families with different numbers of children. These findings indicate that different types of family support for infant and toddler care should be provided for families with different numbers of children, to ease parenting stress and promote the implementation of the government’s current fertility policy.

Preschool children are at the initial stage of individual development and at a critical period in cultivating their approaches to learning. In the context of China’s frequently adjusted birth policies, further research is necessary on children’s approaches to learning in families of different sizes. A questionnaire survey was administered to 5454 only child and 4632 non-only child parents from the east, middle, and west of China. The study found that children’s approaches to learning generally developed well, but non-only children’s approaches to learning was significantly lower than those of only children. There are four profiles of approaches to learning for both the only children and the non-only children. This study also found that gender, social skills, family income, and type of preschool exert significant influences on children’s approaches to learning. Parents’ educational background had a significant influence on only children’s approaches to learning but had no significant influence on non-only children’s approaches to learning. We provide practical implications for promoting children’s approaches to learning in families of different sizes.