Do you know how much sleep your child should be getting every night? Well, you’re in luck because the National Sleep Foundation recently released new sleep recommendations that might surprise you. Because sleep is a must for youngsters and leads to better learners, here are a few tips to add to your parenting playbook:
- Keep the bedroom screen-free. It may look like the kids are being relaxed by watching a movie in bed, but in reality the blue light is suppressing the production of melatonin—a hormone that regulates our sleep cycle. This means it will be harder for your kiddos to get to sleep and stay asleep.
- Make time for cuddles. Routines are great for kids, but research suggests a quality nighttime connection is more important. According to a recent study in the Journal of Family Psychology, parents who provide “emotional availability” to kids during bedtime make them feel safe and secure, which leads to better sleep.
- School kids on sleep. Habits stick when they’re talked about, and when it comes to good sleep habits, children sleep longer when they’ve actively learned about it. There are a variety of tools at your fingertips to help you with this, such as Sleep For Kids, a website that teaches kids about the importance of sleep that you can review together.
Bedtime is different for each family, but with a few tweaks your little lions will be sleeping better and you’ll notice the difference in their school work.