What are the changes that children suffer from due to lack of sleep?
Children who don’t get enough sleep are more likely,
- To be depressed.
- To lack energy and feel tired, tense and moody.
- To have a negative self-image.
- To find it difficult to concentrate in school.
- To display more negative behaviours.
How can parents inculcate good sleeping habits in their children?
- Encourage an early night every Sunday. A late night on Sunday followed by an early Monday morning will make your child drowsy for the start of the school week.
- Decide together on appropriate time limits for any stimulating activity such as homework, television or computer games.
- Encourage restful activities during the evening, such as reading.
- Help your child to better schedule his/her after-school commitments to free up time for rest and sleep.
- Assess your child’s weekly schedule together and see if he/she is overcommitted. Help to trim activities.
- Encourage your child to take a short afternoon nap after school to help recharge his/her battery.
What are the best bedtime practices for children?
- Choose a relaxing bedtime routine; for example, have a bath and a hot milky drink before bed.
- Avoid loud music, homework, computer games or any other activity that gets the mind racing for about an hour before bedtime.
- Keep the room dark at night. The brain’s sleep–wake cycle is largely set by light received through the eyes.
- Avoid watching television right before bed. In the morning, expose the eyes to lots of light to help wake up the brain.
- Do the same bedtime routine every night for at least four weeks to make the brain associate this routine with going to sleep.
- Start the bedtime routine a little earlier than usual (for example, 10 minutes) after four weeks. Do this for one week.
- Add an extra 10 minutes every week until the desired bedtime is reached.
- Avoid staying up late on the weekends. Late weekend nights will undo all the hard work put in to a good sleeping routine during the weekdays.
- Remember that even 30 minutes of extra sleep each night on a regular basis makes a big difference.