Top 5 Tips For Promoting Healthy Sleep In Children (Do and Don’ts)

Children need the most number of sleep at night, but they are also the hardest ones to put to bed. With the rise of gaming devices, children’s channels and other distractions for children, they start to sleep at night later than they should.

Children tend to get distracted by a lot of tings that keeps them not sleepy. If you would ask people at night, children will answer the most that they are not sleepy.

Their energy just maintains to be very high even at night. In this line, they do not go to sleep unless they are very tired, which is not good for children.

Children should always sleep at the best time at night and that is 3 to 4 hours before midnight.

This allows them to maximize the secretion and utilization of growth hormones for muscle and bone development as well as the maintenance of healthy organs.

In this line, promoting sleep in children is an important role of parents or caregivers. To help you establish regular sleep in your children, the following tips are essential:

Be Consistent In Their Sleeping Hours

Some children are allowed to sleep until they want to, but research says that children should sleep at the same time at night to help theme establish their sleeping patterns. Doing this allows children to feel sleepy when the right time comes.

Establish a Bedtime Routine

Children adapts easily to routines. They tend to associate these routines as activities done before sleep so accomplishing them helps their body go to rest.

Most children love bedtime stories, but you can also do others as well. Just make sure that these activities are relaxing, instead of being stimulating.

Watching TV and playing games are not good bedtime rituals. Set watching TV and playing earlier in the afternoon.

Have safer and healthier sleeping materials like queen mattresses and pillows.

Employ Relaxation Techniques To Children

Relaxation techniques that suit children include a warm bath, soft music inside their room, a mild aromatherapy scent and a light back massage. Relaxing children before they go to sleep helps them have uninterrupted sleep at night.

Offer a Glass Of warm Milk

Warm milk at night is always best for children. Milk contains tryptophan, which is a precursor of serotonin.

When taken in, it promotes sleep because of the calming effects in the neurotransmitters in the brain. Also, milk contains high amounts of protein, which is used by the body during sleep for repair and growth.

Maintain a Comfortable Room

Parents should make sure that their children’s room is comfortable enough. It should be dark, quiet, and warm. Also, use beddings that they love such as carton characters, teddy bears, flowers, and others. If they love what they are sleeping one, they tend to fall asleep fast.

Aside from these tips, there are also some dont’s if you want your child to sleep better every night. These include:

Never put TV inside their bedroom. Television distracts their attention from sleep.

Never allow them to play on their bed. The bed should only be used for sleeping and not for other things. This allows them to associate their beds for sleep.

Never allow them to do their homework or read books on their bed. Set-up a study table for them to read because as discussed, beds should only be used for sleeping.

Never give chocolates and candies at night. Chocolates are their favorite, but this will keep them awake because of the high sugar and caffeine content.

Never allow them to sleep at other areas of the house. Some parents allow their children to sleep in the living room then carry them to their room as soon as they are asleep. Allowing these makes your children get used to it so they will never fall asleep inside their room.

By employing these, you promote healthy sleep in children, which helps them grow and develop better.