Children tend to stay up late during school holidays, significantly delaying their regular bedtimes throughout the school year. This can disrupt their biological clocks and affect the quality of their sleep, making it difficult for them to return to a normal sleep pattern during the school year.
According to the National Sleep Foundation's recommendations for the amount of sleep children need, preschoolers (3-5 years old) should get 10-13 hours of sleep. School-age children (6-13 years old) should get 9-11 hours of sleep per day. Teenagers (14-17 years old) should get 8-10 hours of sleep per night.
Children not getting enough sleep can lead to a number of academic problems. According to the National Science Foundation (NSF), lack of sleep reduces the ability to learn, listen, concentrate, and solve problems, and can cause students to forget important information such as names, numbers, and homework.
In addition, it can lead to aggressive behaviors in teens, such as yelling at classmates and friends, and may increase appetite for unhealthy foods such as sweets and fried foods, which can lead to weight gain.
Adjusting sleep hours
Setting a wake-up time largely depends on your bedtime. Allowing children to wake up late during the day—even on weekends—leads to a reluctance to go to bed at their usual time.
Therefore, it is important to maintain a regular bedtime, even on weekends. This ensures that children and adolescents get enough sleep and maintains a regular circadian rhythm.
The National Sleep Foundation encourages parents and children to include healthy sleep in their back-to-school essentials list. To do this, it recommends adjusting bedtimes and wake-up times 10 days to 2 weeks before school starts to ensure children's body clocks are aligned for school.
Comfortable bedtime routine
Carol L. Rosen, medical director of pediatric sleep services at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, tells Parents that creating a comfortable, age-appropriate bedtime routine for your child is one of the simplest and most important things parents can do.
"Establish a consistent, relaxing bedtime routine that lasts 20 to 30 minutes and ends in your child's bedroom," she adds. "Warn your child that bedtime is in five minutes, or give them a choice—do you want to go to bed now or in five minutes?—but only do it once."
Doing specific things every day before bed, such as taking a daily bath or telling a bedtime story, subconsciously alerts your child to the comfort and relaxation that will come next, creating an ideal sleeping environment.
Turn off electronic devices
Avoiding the use of any electronic devices (video games, televisions, computers, and cell phones) for an hour or two before bedtime is essential, as using electronics in the evening disrupts sleep patterns. This is because the light emitted from electronic screens reduces the production of melatonin, a hormone that plays a pivotal role in the sleep-wake cycle. When melatonin levels are highest, we are sleepy or ready to sleep.
snacks
Eating snacks before bed is acceptable, as long as they are healthy. If your child feels hungry, offer them a warm glass of milk or a snack of fruit or crackers. Your child should avoid any sugary or caffeinated drinks within three hours of bedtime.
exercise
Make sure your children exercise regularly during the day, which will help them relax more quickly at night. However, exercise should be stopped at least three hours before bedtime. Therefore, it is important to maintain a calm sleep environment with dim lighting.
If, despite your best efforts, your child still has trouble sleeping, he or she may be suffering from a sleep disorder, and you should consult a pediatrician.
0 Comments