Children have a sleep routine that changes as they develop through childhood. Sleep hygiene refers to quality of sleep this includes both getting to sleep and remaining asleep. Quality of sleep is directly linked to quality of life and a good balance between rest and wakefulness for daytime activity. The correct amount of sleep is vital for children to have enough energy to develop and perform daily tasks and is vital to health. Sleep can affect children in lots of ways including; performance at school, ability to take in new information, behaviour and concentration.
Sleep hygiene will promote routine changes and modifications to the environment that may optimise sleep. It takes time and repetition to make a change become routine, therefore it may take a few weeks before improvement is recognised. Try to implement:
Sleep cycle
Sleep cycles rely on our body clock telling us when to rest.
Tips:
- Exercise earlier in the day, avoid daytime napping and stay occupied during the day. This will promote a more restful night sleep and creation of routine sleeping at night-time.
- If napping is necessary, try sleeping for less than an hour and doing this before 15:00.
- Create opportunity for exposure to natural light during the day.
Create a bedtime routine
- Try to go to sleep and wake at the same times every day, even on weekends.
- Taking a warm evening bath for some may also be beneficial to some and cooling after a bath can make some people feel relaxed and sleepy.
- Pre-bed routine can impact sleep patterns, this routine can send cues to the brain that is time to relax and sleep. This can be 15 minutes before consisting of changing into pyjamas, brushing teeth and reading a story. Avoid over stimulating activity during this time.
Avoid stress/ worry before bed
- Use de-stress techniques deep breathing, meditation, massage, reading.
- Create time earlier in the day when your child can talk/ write/ draw any worries they experience and you have time to comfort them and solve problems that may cause them to stay awake before bed time.
Pain
- GP can help to determine cause of pain and possible effective relief.
- Doctors may be able to suggest changes to reduce night-time disturbance caused by medication.
Falling asleep
- Avoid caffeine, chocolate, tea, sweets with e numbers of high sugar foods, which may prevent falling asleep. However foods higher in melatione such as fish and nuts may aid sleep.
- Have an appropriate bedtime for the child’s age, staying up too late may cause a child to get a ‘second wind’.
- Avoid heavy meals too close to bedtime, having a settled stomach may help sleep.
- Keep the bed as a place for sleep, having screen time in a separate room may help the child associate bedroom with sleep and not wakefulness.
- Avoid exercise directly before bedtime as the natural high produced with inhibit sleep.
- Avoid any screen time 1-2 hours before bed, the light emitted makes the brain think it is still day time and reduces the hormones needed to help fall asleep.
Staying asleep
Address reasons why your child can’t sleep, for example:
- Overactive bladder- stop drinking large amounts directly before sleep.
- light sleeper- trial ear plugs.
Environmental factors
- Consistency in routine and use of same bed
- Fresh sheets, heavier or lighter sheets/ duvet- note the child must be able to independently remove these
- Comfortable pillow/ different pillow type/ use of pillows for positioning or between legs.
- Comfortable pyjamas/ bed sheets and mattress
- Noise level- use of white noise, soft music, ear plugs. Quiet in general home environment after bedtime reducing external distractions
- Light- black out curtains, use of night lights- not televisions or use eye masks
- Reduce light and screen time for the hour before bed. These lights can trick the brain into remaining in ‘day-light’ mode. The body registering the sun set may help it start to rest
- Remove electronic screens from the bedroom to reduce temptation to use these at night.
- Adjust the temperature of the room by cooling or heating as needed
- Favourite teddy or blanket to comfort child
- Create a safe sleep space with appropriate bed rails/ toddler bed as needed.
- Tidy bedroom, a less cluttered environment creates calm.
Sleep duration
The amount of sleep we need depends on how busy we are and our age, some of use need a little more where as others can function on less sleep. A rough guide is:
- Baby: Newborns usually sleep around 18 hours out of every 24 hours
- Nursery aged child: 3-4 years should sleep between 11 ½ and 12 hours (including 1 hour daytime nap where needed)
- Primary aged child: 5-12 years should have around 9-11 hours per night
- Teenager: ideally around 9 ¼ hours per night
Find out more
The Sleep Foundation publish up-to-date research about topics related to sleep and health
