Is Lack of Sleep an issue for your family?
As a parent, you’ve probably been craving sleep since the minute your first child was born. But did you ever stop to wonder if your children are getting enough sleep?
According to recent reports, chronic sleep deprivation is creeping downwards on the age scale, and it’s having negative effects on everything from children’s ability to learn to their behaviour.
Concentration is deeply affected and as a result children will find it harder to take in information, process it and to problem solve.
Christine Hawkins
Owner KMEC Hunter
In fact recent research has said that cognitive abilities have been set back by years in children who lose just one hour of sleep a night. That is pretty scary.
So how can we help our kids get more sleep?
Firstly we can encourage them to ‘put down the technology’ at least one hour before bedtime. Tech devices can over stimulate the mind and the blue light omitted from most stops our body from producing melatonin, a hormone that tells the brain it is time to sleep. Try the different apps, screen protectors and in some cases, inbuilt night settings that reduce blue light on screens.
Set up a strong bed routine, which includes a bath or a shower and ‘winding down’ activities such as reading or listening to music. It’s important for your child to go to bed as close as possible to the same time every night. It’s also important for them to stick to the same schedule—within reason—on the weekends.
If you’ve tried almost everything and still can’t seem to get your sleep-deprived child to develop a healthy sleep habit, then it’s worth exploring what the underlying causes are.
If they are taking medications, ask their doctor if their medication might be interfering with their sleep.
Check in with your child and ask (not nag, but ask), “What can I do to help keep you on track?”
If your child can be consistent about making even a few of the changes suggested above, you might both be surprised at how quickly you can all reap the rewards of (more) sleep.
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