Sleep is the ultimate recuperative therapy. A change in routine, confusion or worry can all negatively affect it. Covid has surely caused those stressors in most of us. Try these 10 steps to help solve insomnia issues in your children.
Apply the measures for at least two weeks, to give time to reset a good sleep rhythm. Your children will copy you. Make your own sleep a priority!
Our 10 Item CHECKLIST
1. We ask that Mindstretch preschoolers get a minimum of 10 hours sleep every night.
How Many Hours?
Here’s what Harvard Medical School recommends:
- Infants: 12–16 hours (including naps)
- Toddlers: 11–14 hours (including naps)
- Preschoolers: 10–13 hours (including naps)
- Grade school-aged children: 9–12 hours
The bottom number is the absolute minimum – some children need closer to the maximum in order to function well.
2. Keep the same bedtime each night, and on weekends too.
3. Avoid blue-light-emitting devices (computers, tablets, phones, TVs). Switch them off 1 hour before bedtime.
4. Turn down all lights 1 hour before bedtime to prepare the body clock for sleep.
5. If possible, set a low temperature. If a room is hot, the body cannot cool efficiently, causing sleeplessness. Experts advise 18C.
6. Arrange bedding to suit your child. Some will need a heavy cover to give the proprioceptive input needed for them to feel safe and centered. Others who are tactile-sensitive may resist bedcovers. Dress these children warmly on cold nights.
7. Manage food and drink in the hours before bedtime. The child should be neither hungry nor over-full. Avoid liquids near bedtime to reduce the chance of bed wetting or being wakened by a full bladder.
8. Listen to a lullaby – research shows that those who listen to soothing music before bedtime spend longer in restorative REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.
9. Add any other relaxing routine that works. Perhaps give the child a warm bath or read them a gentle story. Repeat the activity nightly to associate it with sleep.
10. The HANDLE® Two-Finger Spinal Massage can be especially effective. Try it for at least 1 week to break bad sleep habits.
Sleep is critical for learning and memory, emotional regulation, and related brain structure development.
