Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Sleeping tips for children

Sleep pattern

You want to establish a regular pattern of sleep for your child. This includes enforcing bed times, waking times and also following a consistent routine before bed. This will insure that your child is receiving a regular amount of sleep. This is more important for children as they are unable to adapt easily to irregular sleep. Try not to vary school and non-school days. Bed time should remain consistent.

Routine

This is what occurs before your child goes to bed. An hour before bed time you want to start encouraging your child to wind down. This will insure that when it hits bed time they will actually be sleeping, not just lying in bed. Activities could include reading a book or taking a bath. Avoid television and computers, these will only stimulate.

Comfort

It should go without saying but your child needs to be comfortable. Invest in a quality bed now to save you money later. Check out Bunkers Brisbane, for something comfortable that won’t break the bank. Comfort also includes your child feeling secure in the space. Do they want a night light? Do they prefer the door to be left open? Catering for these needs will insure your child is comfortable and therefore able to relax.

Bed

Bed is for sleep and only sleep. All technological devices should be kept outside of the bed. You want to train your body into know that bed is for sleep. This will insure that when getting into bed you don’t have to wait long for sleep to come.

Snacks

You want to avoid giving your child a meal close to bed time but snacks are okay. No large meals less than two hours before bed. It can be harder to sleep on an empty stomach.

Naps

Naps don’t need to be done away with all together. It is normal for young children to nap during the day, as they get older they require less sleep. Be careful when allowing your child to nap, you don’t want them napping any later then 4pm.This will interfere with their night sleep.

Exercise

Exercise helps promotes good sleep and healthy living. It can also keep children awake at night, you want to avoid letting your children run around at night. It takes five hours for the body to return to normal temperature after exercise. There should definitely be no exercise during wind down time, the hour before sleep.

Help

Finally, as a parent you need to know when to seek assistance from your doctor. Some children suffer from specific sleep problems such as frequent nightmares, snoring or sleep apnea. It’s important that if your child is experiencing long term problems with sleep that you seek help. We spend one third of our lives sleeping, sleeping problems are not to be taken lightly.

1 Smart Readers SAID::

Unknown said...

My Izzy is in a crazy sleep pattern right now. It sucks cause I can't sleep when she's awake.:(

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