In my last article, I started the deliberation about our children’s sleep habits. This is our bit to join the nation to mark Children’s Day 2023, annually celebrated on May 27. And it is a day set aside for giving dedicated attention to Nigerian children’smatters. I pointed out that children need longer sleep, with the recommended sleep time being longer the younger the child is. The infants (0–12 months) should sleep 12–17 hours, including naps; while small children (1–5 years) should catch shut eyes for 10–14 hours, including naps; and older children of school age (6- 13years) and teens (14- 17years) should try to sleep for 8–12 hours at night. I recalled that despite the peculiar need for a lot of sleep, they are easily distracted by playing, school works, gadgets abuse and over-scheduling the kids with day’s activities.
Today, we would share why our children need more sleep and provide steps on how to improve our children’s sleep. Sleep is a time the body regenerates itself for overall mental and physical health! So, if a child is not getting enough, those recuperative things are missed.
Apart from this benefit that is shared also by adults, specifically, scientists have recognized that getting enough sleep benefits the developing structure and function of the child’s brain. The younger a brain is the more development it needs which will come from more sleep time. A research team led by Dr Wang of the University of Maryland followed children over the years and found that the children with less than the recommended hours of sleep had more mental health and behavioural challenges than those who got sufficient sleep. These included depression, anxiety, aggressive behaviour, and impaired thinking functions such as decision-making, conflict resolution, memory and learning. “Children who had insufficient sleep had smaller brain substance in the parts of the brain responsible for attention, memory, and inhibition control, compared to those with healthy sleep habits,” Wang explained. A sleep psychologist further clarified that in older kids, insufficient sleep presents as frequent tiredness, daytime sleepiness, difficulty concentrating, and even difficulty regulating emotions with aggression, unexplainable bad moods and unhappiness; whereas younger kids may act in an almost opposite manner seeming to have excess energy, be more easily annoyed with outbursts, hyperactivity and other behavioural problems.
Similarly, sleep encourages the production of a growth-enhancing body chemical, the growth hormone. Again, the younger the child, the more body growth the child needs and the more sleep time required.
If your children have insufficient sleep with its features, here are some steps you can take. Firstly, make bedtime a top priority. The best way to improve a child’s sleep is to increase the time they’re in bed. Reduce day’s activities for the kids who are overscheduled, staying up too late finishing the day’s activities and getting up early for school. Create a consistent sleep schedule, with the same bedtimes and wake times every day, even on weekends and holidays, to the best of your ability. Building age-appropriate bedtime routines helps. For younger kids, giving a bath, looking at picture books and singing songs can help. While for older ones, reading, listening to music or relaxation exercises also works.
Secondly, limit the child’s exposure to light at bedtime because it tricks the brain into thinking that it’s daytime, suppressing the production of a brain sleep chemical, melatonin. Turn off phones and screens and dim the lights at least an hour before bed. And also keeping all the electronics and hangout stuff out of bed also helps the kids to associate the bed with sleep only.
Furthermore, avoid giving your child caffeine. Then avoid fizzy drinks close to bedtime. Also, ensure your child gets at least 30 minutes of exercise and games each day. Lastly, it’s important for your child to eat regular just enough meals throughout the day, but there’s nothing wrong with adding a light snack before bed.
In all, please bear in mind that every child is different, so do what you feel comfortable with and what will suit each child.
If your child’s sleep insufficiency persists with daytime sleepiness or behaviour difficulties after applying the tips, visit the children’s specialist doctor for appropriate solutions.
Let us remember that when you sleep, where you sleep and how you sleep affect your mental health, physical well-being and living a healthy life. We all need quality sleep to be set for productivity in our endeavours.
Do you need further information on the above subject? Are you looking for ways to maintain quality sleep for general well-being and healthy living? Remember, a doctor is an appropriate person to offer relevant advice for the maintenance of quality sleep and solution to sleep difficulties. Do you want to contact the Orthopaedic Sleep Consultant, Dr Charles Uzodimma, kindly send your request to sleepinfo@vitafoam.com.ng ORWhatsapp 08129982143.
Vitafoam Nigeria Plc is the first foam manufacturing company in Nigeria to partner with a sleep expert to educate Nigerians on quality sleep for healthy living. The proudly Nigerian company is truly passionate about sleep and general well-being, and continues to consistently provide Nigerians with quality products that offer great comfort.
To learn more about Vitafoam, please visit www.vitafoamng.com
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