Sleep is crucial for everyone, especially for growing children's health and development. Sleep promotes normal functioning, and aides in memory and academic performance. Due to Day light saving and springing our clocks forward we have lost one hour of that precious sleep. While we welcome extra daylight in the afternoons and early evening, it can wreak havoc on the sleep patterns of ourselves and our children. Studies show that children 3-18 years old should get approximately 8-14 hours of sleep each night. Here are some tips to help you ensure your children catch all the ZZZs they need, especially in this week following Daylight Savings:
- Try to put children to bed at the same time every night; this helps their body get into a routine. Following Daylight savings move the schedule back 15-30 minutes each night until your children are going to bed at the same time according to the previous schedule.
- Follow a bedtime routine that is calming, such as taking a warm bath, reading a book or some gentle stretching.
- Don't allow your child to have a TV or computer in their room!!! Research shows that kids who have one in their rooms sleep less..
- Don't exercise or do CrossFit Kids just before going to bed.The 4:00 CrossFit Kids class provides the perfect amount of time between exercise and bedtime.
- Make sure your child's bed is just for sleeping — not doing homework, reading, playing games, or talking on the phone.
- Try a pre-bedtime snack. You've heard that a warm glass of milk can be a sleep-inducing beverage, but did you know that bananas, turkey, peanuts and yogurt are also loaded with sleep-triggering tryptophan? Serving up a small snack about 30 minutes before bed can ensure your kid will be sleepy and full at bedtime.
For more information for kids check out the website: http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/body/not_tired.html#
