If getting your child to sleep is a battle of the wills, you are not alone! Approximately 30 percent of young children have sleep problems and as parents, it's important to explore the cause of their inability to fall asleep or stay asleep before resorting to unnecessary medications.
Good quality, uninterrupted sleep is fundamental for healthy mental and physical development. Sleep has a pivotal role to play in mental health, mood, concentration, and supporting the immune system.
Lack of sleep in childhood is linked to cardiovascular disease, autoimmune diseases, depression, anxiety, cancer and more in adulthood so what we do now for our kids is only going to make their lives, and our lives, that much easier in the future.
The following are six things each family should start exploring and discussing to really figure out why our kids are not getting to sleep.
Routine: This is No. 1 on your list. Kids thrive off of routine and if you are not consistent with it, their sleep will not be consistent. Eat dinner, do bath time, brush teeth and read books at the same time each night. When our kids and their bodies understand the routine, they are less likely to be resistant.
Diet: Dinners should be at least two hours before lights out and packed full of nutrients so they can have that time to digest their food and get good sleep through the night.
Nutrition: Avoid high carbohydrate meals such as pasta, bread and sweets. When we are feeding them sugar, expect a sugar rush and crash. If your child is a picky eater or is going through a "I only eat yellow things" consider speaking to your pediatrician about a multivitamin with B vitamins.
Screens, tablets, video games: Screens, tablets and video games should not be used at least one hour before bedtime, or not at all. Screens are stimulating due to their blue light causing the brain to decrease serotonin and melatonin production and are addictive. Children experience a withdrawal after screen use, just as if you were coming off of a sugar or drug high, which is not ideal for bedtime or sleep.
Bedroom: No screens, TVs or stimulating toys should be allowed in the bedroom. The temperature should be cool and there should be only gentle light allowed.
Exercise/outside time: Kids are never getting enough outside time, especially our school-aged children. Start to incorporate about 30 minutes of outside time right when you get home or right after dinner.
Other things to consider exploring with your pediatrician: food or environmental allergies, vitamin/mineral deficiency.
As you start to make some of these changes, stay firm with your decision and statements to your kids: If you say this is the last time you go into their room, you need to stand your ground and mean what you say. Making changes are hard but in the end, these changes we make for our kids now will only help them become more successful individuals later in life.