Katrina Mallon

Relationship driven parenting consultant

5 Tips to a Faster, Deeper, Sounder Sleep for Your Child

We all Agree Sleep in Important, Why?

Good sleep is essential so many reasons.   Sleep supports growth because the majority of Child’s growth hormones are released during sleep.  Heart health is also dependent on good sleep because it protects damage from stress hormones and cholesterol build up. Children who wake several times a night tend to have higher cortisol levels making it hard to fall asleep and have been linked to higher weight, diabetes and heart disease. Much like adults when a child is tired their body craves higher fat or higher carb foods and are just as guilty of looking for comfort foods when they are upset. It’s not their fault, all their life they have been trained that food fixes things, ie “ohh you hurt your self will a lollipop make it feel better?” Good sleep helps a child deal emotionally with what the world throws at them better. Still to this day my mom always says when I am upset, “ Hun, go to bed, get a good night sleep and everything will look better in the morning” and she is usually right. Sleep also plays a vital role in your child’s immune system, by produces proteins that fight infection, illness, stress and make us feel sleepy. Sleep deprivation and ADHD share many of the same characteristics such as increased impulsiveness and increased distractibility which can look like ADHD.

Create a Good Sleep Environment

Make sure your child’s room is for sleeping. Ideally, we want homework, screen time, play to happen in a playroom or somewhere other than the bedroom. This creates a connection of relaxation, sleep, and calmness to the room. If you can’t keep the whole room “play free”, try just their bed.  The room should also be dark because lights can keep the children up. Growing up my parents had blackout blinds in our rooms so even though it was still light out at 8 pm in the summer our rooms where dark.

Create a Routine

Have a bedtime routine which may start right after dinner with no screens or only an hour depending on the age of your child. The light from the screens affects your child’s body to produce melatonin which is a hormone that helps your child sleep. Your routine is up to you but most families have one that includes a reading stories together, a healthy snack (so your child doesn’t wake up hungry) and brushing teeth. The other important things are to try and keep the routine happening at the same time regardless of whether there is the school in the morning or not.  It allows your child’s body to get into a regular sleep rhythm.

Outside/ Active play

The more energy your child expends during the day the better they will sleep it is as simple as that. It can be hard sometimes when children are drawn to tv, and tablets but creative parents have gotten around it. I know one mom who makes her children earn TV minutes for every hour outside they play they earn 15 minutes of TV time.  Family outings such as to go for a walk, play at the park or go for a swim at the pool on the weekends is a good way to increase the whole families level of activity. Sports are a great way to keep your children active; they build social skills and sportsmanship as well. I would caution you to not have your children too scheduled. Valuable things happen when your child is bored, but that is a conversation for another day.

Control Liquid Intake

Watch what and how much your child is drinking and when.  Beware of drinks full of caffeine, or tons of sugar that will keep them up. Waking up for the washroom can be a huge disruption in a child’s sleep.

Control Screen Time

For some children, the blue light from a tablet, television, or gaming device can stimulate their brain and keep them from sleeping. Children need more screen-free time then Adults do before bed so I have heard of some families doing no screens after dinner.