Getting a good night’s sleep comes down to sleep hygiene — basic strategies that you can implement to help your entire family get through the night easier. And there is no better time to start than the new school year.
Families often talk about changing their ways when school resumes, but the truth is that people should have a routine that works for them throughout the year.
“Kids should have at most a one-hour difference in sleeping and waking up on weekends and weekdays,” said Dr. Sanjeev Kothare, associate professor and director of pediatric sleep medicine at the Department of Neurology at New York University Langone Medical Center. Many kids will go to sleep at midnight and wake up at 10 am on Saturday and Sunday, and expect to sleep on a weekday and get up at 6:30 am, but the brain does not allow you to do that. Here are some ways to help.
Make sure your day begins with daylight.
“When you wake up in the morning, you want to get a dose of bright light, and you can buy those at the store,” said Kothare.
Try to limit sleep to just nighttime. “Do not take naps in the afternoon, because the nap does not allow you to sleep on time at night since you have already had your little sleep taken care of.”
Find ways to unwind before bed. Some kids like to take a warm bath in the evening, and you can add scents that your child finds relaxing to the water. Jeffrey Rose, clinical hypnotherapist at NYU, says certain essential oils can reduce stress and relax your child, but you must be sure they are from natural sources, rather than using artificially created chemicals.
“Tone down all activities after 8:30 or 9 pm,” said Kothare. This means ridding yourself of distractions. “Many teenagers are on the iPhone, iPad, computer, or texting, and those rev up your adrenaline and do not allow you to sleep easily afterwards.” Listening to soothing music can be helpful as well.
Stay away from caffeine, especially after noon.
“Caffeine lasts about eight hours, so even if you take it at 2 in the afternoon it is going to linger in your body after 10 or 11 o’clock, and will prevent you from falling asleep,” said Kothare.
In order to fall asleep when you head to bed, create an environment that is conducive to sleep. This means making sure that the room is quiet, dark, and a little bit cool. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests thinking of your room as a cave — since bats, which are great sleepers, get 16 hours a night, in the dark, cool environment of a cave. It’s also recommended to try to get rid of or deal with things that cause stress during the day, so you do not bring your worries with you to bed.
Encourage your child to sleep independently.
“A problem is that kids do not like to sleep on their own and like to sleep with their parents, so you have to gradually do separation,” said Kothare. You can try to watch your child while he falls asleep, and if he wakes up, come in again and extend the behavior.
Everybody needs a different amount of sleep based on age.
“The newborn needs 16 to 18 hours; the 1-year-old needs 12 to 14 hours; the 2 to 4-year-old needs 10 to 11 hours; the preteens need about 10 hours; the teenagers need eight-and-a-half to nine hours; and the rest need eight to eight-and-a-half hours,” said Kothare.
Some kids encounter obstacles that interfere with sleep.
“You can have organic problems like obesity or sleep apnea that need to be fixed, or other issues regarding your health like pain, eczema, or allergies,” said Kothare.
There is a new entity that doctors are recognizing called metabolic syndrome.
“In that, if you do not sleep well and have sleep apnea you tend to eat more, have more diabetes, hypertension and obesity, which get perpetuated by a lack of good sleep,” said Kothare.
So, if your child is reluctant to sleep, find out why.
“One of the issues that comes up in preteen kids is they have unusual fears and anxiety about sleeping alone or dreams with dogs biting or monsters appearing, and those are a normal phenomenon in that age group,” said Kothare.
Some conditions are more severe than others. “Narcolepsy is a condition where you are sleepy and fall asleep, and when you laugh, you fall to the floor, which is cataplexy, and one of 2,000 kids have it.”
Sleep has gained a lot of attention recently.
“People’s awareness of sleep as an important issue has increased. Parents, families, teachers, and even patients are more aware that sleep is important and part of every aspect of our human body, because for everything that we do to run well, you have to have healthy sleep,” said Kothare.
Do your part to motivate your child to get a good night’s sleep.
“If you sleep well, you will be healthier in every way,” said Kothare. Do not be discouraged if you, the parent, are struggling. “Everybody can improve their sleep and it can be good to see a sleep physician.”
Jamie Lober, author of Pink Power (www.getpinkpower.com), is dedicated to providing information on women’s and pediatric health topics. She can be reached at jamie@getpinkpower.com. © 2013 Jamie Lober
