Your Childs Sleep can Impact your Mental Health

Parents looking for a simple sanity saver may find it by adjusting their children’s bedtimes: Kids who fall asleep early are more likely to be healthier, and their mums have better mental health, research has found.

“So mums and dads, getting kids to bed early is not just great for them. It’s good for you, too,” said Jon Quach, lead author and research fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia.

Quach and his colleagues defined "early to bed" as being asleep by 7:30 p.m.

That’s a very typical bedtime for early school age kids, whose level of melatonin — the hormone that helps the brain chill out and fall asleep — tends to peak around 7 o’clock at night, said Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson, a Seattle paediatrician.

“We know that sleep is a really relevant part of our mental health, our mood. We know in kids, it’s related to behavioural [issues] and the ability to self-control,” Swanson reports.

“When we think about mum, it makes a lot of sense to me that if kids are early to bed, mum is going to wind down, get things done and feel like things are under control.”

5 Ways to Improve your Child’s Bedtime Routine

Have you seen the meme that says: “I want a do-over for all the sleep I didn’t get as a kid”? Weary parents crave sleep, but for kids, every night can be a line drawn in the sand that they don’t willingly cross.

Most children need much more sleep than they actually get, so putting it back on the priority list, especially as school begins, is a must.

Let’s look at five strategies that can help you do that:

1.    Full "baskets." 

When we change our own routines so that we are giving our kids the one-on-one attention they need, they require (and demand) less attention at night-time. Giving your kids just 10-15 minutes a day of uninterrupted, all-about-them time can fill their emotional basket in substantial ways. Fill those baskets during the day, and nights will become a lot easier.

2.    Ensure your child is getting enough physical exercise

Our world has forever changed. It is no longer considered safe to ride your bike home from school, or in some neighbourhoods, to even play alone in your front yard. Parents must think carefully before allowing a child to visit a school friend, particularly if you don’t know their family, which is very likely as parents both work more and more fulltime and use before and after school care or childcare. Our backyards are getting smaller, screen-time is ever-increasing, and parents and their children are finding less and less time to get physical together….and, of course, the current pandemic has forced us indoors. Our need for regular exercise scheduling has increased, to maintain our own health and that of our children. Sedentary behaviour makes restful, rejuvenating sleep near impossible.

3.    Watch your words. 

Is bedtime portrayed as a bad thing in your home? “Do something wrong and you’ll go straight to bed!” Sleep time gets a bad reputation for a lot of families, according to Heather Turgeon, co-author of “The Happy Sleeper,” so it’s no wonder kids aren’t beating down a path to their beds. Instead, consider a re-branding strategy for sleep at your house. Start calling bedtime “snuggle time” and talk about what’s GOOD about going to sleep, rather than making it feel more like punishment than reward.

4.    Turn the “world” off. 

For many kids, the TV, computer, or smart phones are their window to the world, but studies show late night screens are keeping our kids awake and away from the real, healthy sleep they need. Give your screens a “lights out” time of at least two hours before kids go to bed.

5.    Be consistent. 

If bedtime is 7 p.m. one night, 8:15 p.m. the next and 9 p.m. on weekends, there is no bedtime and you’ll forever be in negotiations. Bedtimes should be the same seven days a week because kids’ bodies need a certain amount of sleep whether it’s a Wednesday or a Saturday! There is no question that consistency and prioritisation of sleep is going to make your life better

Here’s to new bedtime routines in your home that have everyone sleeping a lot easier!