| "Sleep! Sleep! beauty bright | | | | to the brain and it will take longer to fall asleep and |
| Dreaming o'er the joys of night " - William Blake. | | | | affect the quality of sleep if they engage this way too |
| "Counting sheep" is a phrase that is deeply ingrained | | | | close to bedtime or if they fall off to sleep with the TV |
| into our culture's notion of sleep. I thought an article on | | | | and computer turned on. I have seen in my own |
| healthy sleep habits was a relevant topic for parents | | | | practice that this happens all too often, and has |
| who sometimes struggle with getting their youngsters | | | | negative consequences on the child's health and the |
| to bed. Did you know that our magnificent bodies have | | | | family's sanity. |
| a biological clock inside of them? As living organisms, | | | | 5. Certain dairy foods and carbohydrates such as a |
| we co-ordinate our activities with a day-night cycle | | | | nice warm milky drink is a good source of tryptophan, |
| caused by the rotation of the earth. | | | | an amino acid, which is thought to help induce sleep as |
| Starting in the late afternoon, changes in our biological | | | | it is a naturally occurring sedative. |
| clock start preparing us for sleep. We receive less | | | | 6. A nice warm bath 90 minutes before bedtime is |
| natural light, our body temperature lowers, there is a | | | | excellent to include in the sleep routine. |
| decreased need for oxygen, and a natural hormone | | | | 7. Let your child wear socks to bed, if appropriate. This |
| secreted by the pineal gland called melatonin is | | | | may reduce night awakenings as the feet often feel |
| released. All of this together produces sleepiness and | | | | cold before the rest of the body. |
| gets us to sleep. The right amount of sleep helps us to | | | | 8. Read your child something very light but uplifting and |
| be in a better mood, more alert, creative, productive, | | | | positive to help create a good mindset before they fall |
| have better concentration and memory, and feel more | | | | asleep. Reading anything too stimulating or suspenseful |
| energetic. When we do not get enough sleep we | | | | can be arousing. It is also a lovely time to have |
| become irritable, moody and inattentive. The effect is | | | | one-to-one attention which makes them feel loved and |
| even more apparent in children. Kids who do not get | | | | more secure. After you are gone, they can listen to a |
| enough sleep can become hyperactive, prickly or even | | | | recorded tape story of your voice reading, or they can |
| aggressive. Sometimes tiresome children are just tired | | | | listen to other calming books on tapes that go off |
| children. | | | | automatically. |
| Sleep is important for children because: | | | | Here are a few more tips for good sleep habits: |
| 1. There is a growth hormone that is released when | | | | 1. Make sure your child avoids activities before bedtime |
| sleeping | | | | that are frustrating; like doing homework that they are |
| 2. They will be better able to concentrate and learn at | | | | upset about or losing on their computer games or |
| school. | | | | GameBoy. |
| 3. Going to bed late tends to result in distracting | | | | 2. It's best that your child does not eat too close to |
| dreams | | | | bedtime, especially if it is a heavy or spicy meal. In my |
| 4. Lack of sleep can cause a tendency to be | | | | opinion fizzy drinks should rarely be consumed and |
| overweight | | | | even chocolate should not be consumed before |
| 5. It is important for memory development and | | | | bedtime. |
| consolidation of the events of the day. | | | | 3. Regular exercise is great for your child as it has |
| 6. It effects a child's executive functioning development. | | | | been shown to improve sleep. Exercising for at least |
| Teens need about nine hours of sleep which | | | | 30 minutes everyday can help your child fall asleep. |
| challenges the myth that teens don't need as much | | | | Studies show exercising in the morning is the best. |
| sleep. In fact they need more sleep in this physically | | | | With the busy mornings of getting a child off to school, |
| and emotionally challenging developmental stage. | | | | hopefully the school has a good physical educational |
| Unfortunately, this is not the case for many. Dr. Chris | | | | component. The rule of thumb is not to exercise for at |
| Idzikowski with the Edinburgh Sleep Centre comments | | | | least 4 hours before bedtime, as it may keep your |
| on a study about teen's sleep habits: "What we are | | | | child awake. The weekends are a great time to |
| seeing is the emergence of Junk Sleep - that is sleep | | | | exercise together as a family. |
| that is of neither the length nor quality that it should be | | | | 4. Make sure your child has no drinks containing sugar |
| in order to feed the brain with the rest it needs to | | | | before bedtime. The sugar can be stimulating and can |
| perform properly at school." Lack of sleep also directly | | | | raise blood sugar and inhibit sleep. Later, when blood |
| affects older teens' reaction times and judgement | | | | sugar drops too low your child might wake up and not |
| when they are learning to drive vehicles, which can be | | | | be able to fall back asleep. The fluids can contribute to |
| lethal weapons. | | | | bed wetting and tend to accumulate in the mouth. This |
| Here are some helpful hints for a bedtime routine: | | | | can cause tooth decay. |
| 1. Have a winding down period that includes a familiar | | | | 5. Make sure, even in winter time that there is some |
| sleep routine every night at the same time. Your child | | | | fresh air at night as the central heating can cause a |
| should go to sleep and wake up at approximately the | | | | lack of humidly and cause problems with sleeping. |
| same time each day, even on the weekends if | | | | Open a window slightly and if possible, have a |
| possible. This will help his/her body to get into a sleep | | | | humidifier on which can serve as background white |
| rhythm and make it easier to fall asleep and get up in | | | | noise which is helpful for lots of kids when sleeping. |
| the morning. There should be also a familiar wake | | | | Here is a website to purchase self-hypnosis tapes and |
| routine in the morning. | | | | books for your children to help get them to sleep at |
| 2. For younger children, encourage them to have their | | | | night. |
| own choice of pyjamas and a favourite toy and | | | | This is a very helpful video on healthy sleep by Dr. |
| choose an enjoyable book to read together. | | | | Feldman who is the Medical Director of the Stramski |
| 3. Find some relaxation CDs for children or let them | | | | Sleep Disorders Centre. |
| listen to white noise or nature sounds, such as the | | | | This will be the first of series of articles on sleep |
| ocean, waterfalls, dolphin and whale sounds or the | | | | issues. Until next time, have fun counting sheep! |
| songs and rain forest birds or sounds. This is soothing | | | | O bed! O bed! delicious bed! That heaven upon earth |
| and can induce sleep. | | | | to the weary head. |
| 4. Make sure your child avoids TV or any other screen | | | | ~Thomas Hood, Miss Kilmansegg - Her Dream. |
| time a few hours before bedtime. Remove TV, | | | | © 2009 Dr Angel Adams & Dr Patricia |
| PlayStations, Nintendo GameBoys and electronic | | | | Papciak. All Rights Reserved. |
| gadgets out of your child's bedroom. It is too stimulating | | | | |