As anyone who has spent the night awake with a grumpy child knows, sleep is essential!
Children and teens need even more sleep than adults and it is vitally important for their brains and bodies.
Children need different amounts of sleep depending on their age. New-borns (like cats) need about 15 -18 hours of sleep!
By the time babies are a year they only need about 13-14 hours a night. Sleep requirements of children gradually reduce as they age but even teens between 14 and 17 need about 9 hours a night.
There are a number of things that we can do to help. Check out this video which has useful tips on ways to improve the quality of our sleep and help our children and young people to improve their sleep too.
A few of the most important things we can do to improve sleep habits are:
1.Establish a regular sleep pattern.
Waking up and going to bed at the same time everyday (even at the weekends) helps us to fall asleep more easily and allows a more restful sleep. We all have an internal body clock which really loves consistency.
2. Cut the screen time.
We are all using screens more often, phones, tv, tablets, and laptops but the light from our screens tricks our brains into thinking it is daytime and makes it really hard to fall asleep. Even a few minutes in from of a screen before bed can delay our sleep for up to an hour or so. The best thing to do is switch off screen about an hour and a half before bed. Maybe read a book with your little one, or encourage a night time routine, which brings us on to the next point.
3. Establish a night time routine.
Remember how we love consistency? Well a night time routine can really help us to get into the zone of sleepiness,
Wellbeing and Lifestyle - Sleep