Parents & Kids: Get a Good All-Night Sleep

Tossing and turning may be popularized in an old song but is not a good example of healthy sleep. Uninterrupted sleep patterns result in moodiness, aching bodies, and according to a recent study, childhood battles with weight problems. Here are some non-prescription ways to get a better night’s sleep…one that lasts the entire night.

Rearrange your room and turn down the bright. Even though most children’s rooms are full of loud patterns and brightly-colored walls, this may be hindering their sleep patterns by stimulating the senses and creating unwanted energy around bedtime. By using softer patterns and lighter-colored walls, both parent and child can get more sleep by keeping neutrals in plain sight of the bed. Just the simple act of covering the bedspread with a tan throw is enough of a change to soothe your brain’s activity.

Turn down the light. Bright, overhead lights create daytime settings and trigger playtime in a child’s brain. Turn off overhead lights and if a light needs to be on around bedtime, use one with a dimmer switch or a side table lamp with a lesser-watt light bulb in order to see for reading in bed or getting dressed, but not bright enough to disturb sleep. Along with keeping the light low in the bedroom, consider hanging curtains or buying a shade to keep the early morning sun from creeping in.

Count sheep and your thread count. Children’s sheets are not the best quality and you don’t need to spend a lot of money to outfit their beds with a sheet set that will not be appreciated. However, for the master bedroom, comfort experts recommend 100 percent Egyptian cotton for its softness and ability to breathe. Think 300 thread count and save some money instead of opting for the fancy 500-plus thread counts that are not worth it in the long run.

Keep noise to a minimum. Windows can be closed to drown out street noise, and if you must listen to sounds to aid in falling asleep make sure they are natural (such as noise machines that mimic birds, jungle sounds, and ocean waves) and keep them low. If you must listen to a television show or put on a DVD in order to shut off your brain, make sure it is not something that will stimulate your interest. A boring channel on low volume usually does the trick. If your kids share a room, make sure the floors have a rug or carpeting in case either of them have a habit of getting up in the middle of the night. A creaking wooden floor or hallway can wake anyone in the house up.

Silence technology. With the advances in technology these days, children are getting younger and younger with personal cell phones, handheld video games, and laptops. For adults and kids, keep these items shut off and hidden from sight. Keep the cell phones off or on silent and be sure a hibernating laptop or gaming unit is not within view so the blinking lights can disturb your sleep pattern.

Don’t distract with piles. Piles of clothes and other items, toys, games, magazines, etc. can distract even the most tired of people. Keep a large hamper in the corner of the room or end of the bed to store clutter away from sight. Magazine racks, cleverly placed shelving, and toy boxes ensure that wandering eyes won’t stay open by browsing around the room. In addition to having proper storage units, make sure everything has its place in the room and that it is put away.

Having a routine is the key to good sleep. A sleep routine is the best way to calm your brain before you fall asleep. Whether it’s picking out pajamas, brushing teeth together, or reading a book with (or to) your kids, sticking to a timely schedule helps everyone ease into sleep quicker. Some people take a bath, read a book, or watch twenty minutes of their favorite television show before turning off the lights and settling under the sheets.

Along with the aforementioned article that children’s obesity partially arises from lack of sleep, another recent study published in the June issue of SLEEP shows that chubbier children are more likely to develop sleep disorders and problems breathing while asleep. Sleep-disordered breathing—5 or more pauses in breathing per hour—can cause behavioral problems and difficulty staying alert during the day. The importance of sleep is catching up with everyone and disruptive sleep during childhood just causes dysfunctional sleeping patterns throughout life and can lead to more serious health problems. So give your children a strict bedtime during the week and stick to one yourself so you can both reap the benefits of an all-night sleep.