Sleep schedules

Here are some important questions for you.

What time do you go to bed?

What time does your child have dinner?

What time does your child go to bed?

How many hours of sleep does your child get at a stretch?

What are your child’s energy levels throughout the day?

What is the frequency of tantrums? Do they increase as the energy level goes down?

Here are two important aspects to consider when it comes to sleep schedules:

REM sleep:

REM sleep, a phase of sleep which we enter multiple times, for short periods through our sleep cycle, is the phase where we dream and our muscles get to relax. More REM sleep is associated with processing emotions during dreamtime, benefits with memory and learning, brain development and cognitive function and so on.

More duration of continuous sleep leads to accessing more REM sleep.

It becomes necessary that our children get enough continuous sleep.

Melatonin:

It is a hormone secreted by the Pineal glands which plays an important role in regulation of the rhythms of the body. It helps regulate energy metabolism. It also stimulates the growth hormone. Among many benefits, it is associated with overall wellbeing.

Melatonin secretion increases soon after the onset of darkness and peaks as the night progresses, between 2 and 4 am.

It becomes necessary that our children have early dinners and go to bed early to access the many known and yet unknown benefits of REM and melatonin.

Activity:

Figure out a healthy bedtime for your child: what time does your child need to go to bed in order to get 10 to 11 hours of continuous sleep at night?

Figure out at what time your child needs to eat dinner to have the above bedtime.

What changes can you make in your evening routines to gradually move the child’s bedtime?