In the current technology-driven era, most children prefer staying up late watching movies and playing games on TVs and smartphones rather than heading to bed to take a proper nap. During our childhood days, we too played a lot of games, but most of them were outdoor. It wasn’t just a healthy routine, but it also ensured that we were tired at the end of the day, and made us sleep peacefully and easily at night.
So, what can we do to help our children get proper sleep at night? You might be tired from trying to get them to go to bed on time every day, especially if the next day is a school day. So, let us look into some aspects of this issue and come up with an action plan to resolve it.
Importance of sleep
Sleep is essential for your children’s proper mental and physical development.
According to experts, the recommended sleeping time for children based on their age is as follows:
- Less than 1 year: 12-16 hours
- 1-2 years: 11-14 hours
- 3-5 years: 10-13 hours
- 6-12 years: 9-12 hours
- 13-18 years: 8-10 hours
If your children are getting a lot less than the above-mentioned sleep hours every day, you need to take suitable action.
Lack of sleep can cause a lot of issues in children. Some of them might be:
- It can affect mental and physical development. The production of hormones required for the body and brain development is affected by the lack of sleep. You might see delayed or stunted growth in children who lose sleep regularly.
- Negative health impacts like increased blood pressure, increased likelihood of being obese, and lowered metabolism.
- Can cause stress and depression. The increase in depression and mental issues prevalent in children today can be attributed to the loss of sleep and increased screen time to some extent.
- The attention and concentration span of children will be severely affected
- They will seem more irritable and will be quick to anger. Many children who seem to be having anger issues might be affected by this.
How to get your children to sleep on time?
- Control screen time
- Proper sleep schedule
- Bedroom Ambience matters
- Exercises to help sleep fast
- Keep a check on what your kids eat
- Consult an expert if sleep issues persist
The issue causing children and adults to lose sleep is the prevalence of electronic screens and devices in our daily lives. So, make sure you control your children’s screen time, especially close to bedtime. Make it a rule in your house to stop using them at least an hour before your bedtime.
A proper routine can help ensure your children get enough sleep every day. Set a time for your children to bed and when to get up. Following this for a few weeks will help them develop it into a habit that will last a lifetime. Let your children go out to play and ensure they do plenty of exercise. It will help tire them out and help them fall asleep easily at night. Also, do not put sleep time too close to dinner time. Having a bloated stomach will make it harder for them to fall asleep.
Make sure the lighting in the bedroom is not too bright during sleep time. Also, make sure they have comfy beds and good props in their rooms. Bedtime stories are a great way to get your children to get to sleep. Make it a habit to read to them if they are young. Get them to read on their own once they become old enough. It will help get rid of screen usage during bedtime and also has the added benefit of them developing a reading habit.
Showering before bed helps your body relax. Some study reports found that it can help people fall asleep at least 10 mins faster than usual.
You can try out exercises and activities that help fall asleep faster. We have some listed for you:
Breathing techniques: Lie down and assume a comfortable position in your bed. Take a few deep breaths naturally, try not to force it. Count to 5 for every exhalation. There’s no need to count for inhalations. Repeat it a few times and concentrate on your breathing.
You can ask your children to try it out and see how it works
Another method to try out is the 4-7-8 breathing method. For this, first, lie down in a comfortable position. Make sure your mouth is closed and inhale through your nose to a count of 4. Hold your breath for a count of 7, and then exhale fully through the mouth for a count of 8. Repeat this process 4-5 times.
Make sure dinner is not heavy. And, also try to watch what you eat at night before bedtime. Avoid caffeine, sugar, or spicy food from your child’s food. Also, a glass of warm milk before bed is suggested by many to get a good night’s sleep.
If your children find it hard to fall asleep and your intervention doesn’t seem to help, you might need to consult an expert. Sometimes lack of sleep might signal some underlying health or mental issue. Getting it diagnosed in time can be vital for your child’s wellbeing. So, make sure you keep that in mind when dealing with this issue.
No method will be equally effective for all. So, you might have to try and see what seems to work for you. We hope you find these pointers useful. We wish you all the best! 🙂
Exam Smart Tips
Exam Smart Tip #1 – How to Encourage Our Kids to Speak Better?
Exam Smart Tip #2 – How to avoid carelessness?
Exam Smart Tip #3 – Establishing Routines!
Exam Smart Tip #4 – Let’s Read Carefully!
Exam Smart Tip #5 – Beating the Exam Fever!
Exam Smart Tip #6 – How to Eat Right for the Exams?
Exam Smart Tip #7 – How to Avoid a Meltdown?
Exam Smart Tip #8 – Taking Stress out of Tests
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