We spend one third of lifetime to sleep and we just do it. How much do you know about our sleep? Do you know how many hours of sleep does a five-year-old child need? Does the time at which children sleep matter? Actually, most of parents have no exact answers. We just let our children do it.
When I was young, in early 1980s, no TV sets, no videos, no computers and not too much connection with the outside world. I slept not later than 9 o’clock in the night and got up until 7 o’clock the next morning. Right now things are changed. Children are exposed to a colorful world, full of social media and Internet webs. Sleeping time has been greatly cut and sleeping shortage of children and teenagers has led to a lot of problems like inattentive, bad memory and learning abilities and other chronic problems that are misjudged and misdiagnosed. The children sleep less, which makes parents take for granted that their children just need so much of sleep. Experts say that Sleep deficiency impacts strongly on the prefrontal cortex of the brain. This is the area engaged in what you might call higher-order thinking, involving creative and conceptual processes, as well as short-term memory. It is not only the duration of sleep about also the time and type that matters. Teenagers, like babies and toddlers, need a lot of “slow-wave” sleep, and tend to need more morning sleep for optimal functioning.
The following are some tips excerped from the book ‘teach you child to sleep’ written by Mandy Gurney and Tracey Marshall.
1 Have a set sleep time Set a regular sleep-wake schedule with no more than one hour deviation from day to day, including weekends.
2 Check out the bedroom Keep the room below 18C. Too much heat disturbs sleep. Constant noise can have the same effect, as can too much light: try using blackout blinds.
3 Relaxation time Get your child or teenager to do something relaxing in the half hour before bed — reading or listening to an audio book.
4 Remove distractions Make bedtime mean sleep time. This may mean removing toys, TV and computer from the bedroom. No eating, drinking or talking.
5 Enforce boundaries When you say two stories, mean two stories. Lack of limits can lead to long bedtime battles.
6 Focus the routine Aim to do the same things each night, about 30 minutes before bed — for example: a quick bath; straight into the bedroom; dim lights; read stories; say goodnight and leave. Expect your child to be asleep 15 minutes later.
7 Prevent “worry time” If your child is awake after 30 minutes because of worries, he or she should go to another room and read or listen to a tape for a while. A warm milky drink may help.
8 Diet Avoid caffeine close to bedtime (tea, Coke). For a snack, try a banana, warm milk, an oat biscuit or wholegrain cereal.
9 Regular exercise Encourage exercise for 20-30 minutes three or four times a week (but not within three hours of bedtime).
10 Praise children if they keep to “the rules”.
