Helping Your Children Get Enough Sleep
by
David C. Mathis, Ed.D.
We live in a mobile society. There was a time when the presence or absence of daylight largely influenced the time to go to sleep and to awaken. That is no longer true. Instead of retiring into our homes to sleep after the sun goes down, we are wired for 24 hours a day if wanted. We can play sports under the lights, watch television, listen to the radio, read under bright light, and even get on the Internet.
Our children are suffering as an effect of our mobility. Children typically need more than nine hours of sleep per night. From ages two through nine typically need 13 to 10 hours per night. Even teenagers typically need more than eight hours of sleep per night. Too many children are not getting adequate sleep.
We now know that chronic sleep deprivation has many consequences. Children who do not receive adequate sleep are not as attentive, are prone to be more irritable, can be hyperactive, and/or may appear flat in their mood. For sleep deprived adolescents, they are more prone to seek out stimulates to fight off their sleepiness. It is important for parents to provide structure and limits concerning sleep, and that structure is needed from an early.
In an effort to establish proper sleep patterns early, it is important to maintain regularity with bedtime preparations and bedtime. Good sleep hygiene includes such things as regular wake up times, limited sleeping in, limited late afternoon and evening naps, and regular bedtimes. It can also be helpful to have a bedtime ritual that is predictable, pleasant, non-stimulating and non-negotiable. It is counter-productive to allow children to watch television or listen to the radio after the lights are out.
Some parents have allow the child to get out of bed or they will sometimes allow the child to sleep in the parents bed. If good sleep hygiene has not been in place it will not be uncommon for children to resist bedtime. It is important to believe that your child can learn to cope with being able to independently sleep. By “rescuing” your child it only reinforces dependency rather than building self-confidence in his or her self. A child’s inability to return to sleep without parental intervention is abnormal. By allowing children to stay up too late, to arise after awakening or to sleep with parents is only creating more problems that are not as easily resolved later. It is good for parents to persist when children are young rather than trying to correct problems later.