Sleep problems among children is a common problem that the child health care nurse (CHCN) confronts. Parents of children aged 1-6 years with sleep-related issues ask the CHCN for advice. The CHCN is the one who provides parental support and ensures children's health. A fundamental part of caring for children who struggle with sleeping is to educate the parents.

The theoretical frame of reference for this study is Kate Eriksson's health theory books and articles. The aim of the study was to describe the CHCN's experiences with parental support regarding children's sleep issues from one to six years of age.

The method was a qualitative inductive content analysis based on interviews with nine CHCN nurses. The result showed that the CHCN nurse's function was to increase the parents' knowledge of routines and guidelines in handling the situation. The descriptive category, "Strengthening parents with strategies to cope with their new life situation," describes how CHCN's can simplify the surrounding factors around sleep issues and assess the parents' individual needs for support. The category "Advising and assisting parents to ensure the family's needs," describes the importance of routines, as well as preventive conversations and advice needs of the family. The category "Sleep deprivation is a complex problem which rarely has a simple solution," describes the CHCN's experiences and observations on working with sleep problems, parental support works to gain knowledge and information about children's sleep issues. It is important to tailor the help to the parents' individual needs, and to recognize that all parents are different and can see problems differently. Finally, it's about being there as a support, helping parents establish more structured daily routines.