Sleep conditions like insomnia are not limited to adults. Even kids as young as 2 or 3 years are, nowadays, experiencing an inability to sleep well.
When the kids are not able to sleep, it becomes more difficult for the parents to enjoy an undisturbed sleep. They are more likely to stay awake to look after the kids.
That is why; it is important to ensure your child is able to enjoy an undisturbed sleep of 8 to 10 hours every night. It would ensure that they feel lively and energetic throughout the day and help them avoid the illnesses that occur due to lack of sleep.
At the same time, it would also help you enjoy a sound sleep knowing that your child is sleeping. If you are eager to find out how to let your kids enjoy an undisturbed sleep, read on to learn these simple strategies.
Most parents make the mistake of allowing their kids to stay awake until late evening hours on weekends. However, this can disturb their sleep-wake cycle and prevent them from sleeping earlier on the weekdays.
If you want to ensure your child enjoys a good sleep every night, stick to a fixed schedule for bedtime that must be followed on all days of the week.
Depending on the age of your child, school age children need about 9 to 11 hours of sleep every night.
Sticking to the same schedule will regulate their body’s internal biological clock and help them enjoy a sound sleep.
Just like adults, kids too experience mental stress that can prevent them from getting any sleep. The stress of excelling in academics, peer pressure, and even trivial arguments with friends can make them anxious and affect the quality of their sleep.
You can help your child avoid stress and anxiety by spraying Jasmine or Sandalwood oil in their bedroom. Alternatively, you can also let them smell a few drops of Vetiver or Lavender oil. The soothing fragrance of these oils would ease your child’s anxiety and promotes restful sleep.
The light from the television screen and even smartphones can interfere with the production and release of a hormone called melatonin in the nervous system.
Melatonin plays an important role in regulating our sleep-wake cycle. Increased production of this hormone can induce sleepiness while its lower production can create wakefulness.
If you want to ensure your child enjoys sound sleep, you must switch off the television and limit their use of smartphones from at least 2 hours before bedtime. This would ensure a controlled production of melatonin that is needed to regulate the sleep-wake cycle and allows your child to get a sound sleep.
Kids are very sensitive and tend to be emotionally vulnerable. They usually have a tendency to brood over the unpleasant things they hear throughout the day, especially before bedtime.
Thinking about unpleasant experiences can increase mental stress and prevent them from sleeping well. You can help your child avoid mental stress by maintaining a playful atmosphere in the house, not just at the bedtime, but throughout the day.
Avoid having any negative discussion like someone suffering from a serious disorder or financial strain in front of your kids.
You can also let your kids smell a few drops of soothing essential oils like lavender oil before bedtime to ease the emotional turmoil or sleep anxiety they may be experiencing. This would improve the emotional stability of your child and enhance the quality of their sleep.
This is a time-tested strategy that can help kids enjoy an undisturbed sleep. Make it a routine activity to tell a nice story that has a positive outcome to your child before bedtime.
Use a storybook that has lots of pictures while telling the story to allow your child to visualise it. As your child hears the story, with his mind completely focused on it, all the other thoughts would slowly be removed from his mind. This will put them in a toned-down mood, which is needed to enter a deeper phase of sleep.
The sleep-wake cycle of children is dependent on the presence or absence of lights in the bedroom. Lights entering their room from outside or those in the room itself can prevent your child from sleeping.
You can modify these factors to create an atmosphere that can allow your child to sleep well.
Make sure your child’s bedroom has curtains that can block the light from entering their room. This will improve the secretion of melatonin in the brain and induce sleepiness.
Your child's sleep-wake cycle is also sensitive to the room temperature. Extremely high or low temperature in the bedroom can cause discomfort and make it difficult for them to sleep. Make sure the temperature in your child’s bedroom is not too high or too low by modifying the settings of the temperature regulator.
You can also ensure your child feels comfortable by giving him warm clothes to wear during winter. However, avoid bundling up your child too much when the climate is warm as it can increase sweating and cause discomfort thus interfering with their sleep.
Ensuring you and your child get an adequate sleep of at least 8 hours every night is essential for your health and your child’s health. Your sleep, in turn, depends on how well your child is sleeping.
Try the strategies discussed above to help your child enjoy an undisturbed sleep. The use of natural sleep products such as Vetiver, Jasmine, Sandalwood, or Lavender oils would enable your children to sleep well and ensure they feel active and alert when they get up in the morning.
Needless to say, it will also help you get a sound sleep and prevent the complications of insomnia.
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