The Importance of Sleep for Young Children.
Sleep is an indispensable component in the life of a young child. Preschoolers, needing up to 10 to 13 hours of sleep daily, use this rest time to further their physical growth, brain maturity, and emotional balance. Good sleep patterns assist them in being more attentive, remembering things more appropriately, and dealing with situations of emotional turmoil. However, for many parents, putting their children to sleep is not that easy.
Establishing Routines: How to Create a Consistent Bedtime Routine.
One of the surest ways to have your child get enough rest is to establish a regular bedtime routine. A predictable routine helps your child learn that it is time to relax and get ready for sleep, which is essential for early childhood development and aligns with practices in early childhood care and education.
Following are a few tips to establish a routine:
- Get your child on a Bedtime Schedule: Set a consistent bedtime and stick to it, including weekends. Consistency is the key to tuning up your child’s internal clock.
- Create a Wind-Down Transition: Within about 30 minutes before bedtime, engage your child in gentle activities such as reading a book, listening to soft music, or light stretches.
- Limit Screen Time: At least an hour before retiring to bed, avoid screens. The blue light of tablets, TVs, and phones interferes with the production of melatonin in the body, which makes it difficult for kids to fall asleep.
- Make Bedtime Special: Whether it is a story, a lullaby, or just some talk about the day, prepare a bedtime routine that helps your child feel comforted.
Sleep Environment: Creating the Bedroom Sleep-Friendly.
How well your child sleeps depends, to some degree, on their sleep environment. A quiet, calm, and comfortable area helps cue them that this is time for sleeping. Here are some tips to create a sleep-friendly bedroom:
- Dim Lighting: The room should be kept in total darkness or, if necessary, a small nightlight. Darkness sends the right messages to the body to release its natural sleep hormones, crucial for early childhood education as well as overall development.
- Comfortable Temperature: The sleeping room should be cool and comfortable. A sleeping room that is very warm or very cold disrupts sleep.
- Quiet Ambiance: Keep your child’s room quiet, and if there is noise in your home, then a white noise machine should be run to mask distractions.
- Comfort Items: Allow the child to sleep with their favourite blanket, stuffed animal, or pillow. These things provide much comfort to the child and make the bedtime routine quite inviting.
Dealing With Sleep Issues: Strategies to Overcome Some Common Sleep Issues.
Even with a regular bedtime routine, and with the sleep environment being relaxing, sleep problems do occur. Here are some of the more common issues and their solutions:
- Bedtime Resistance: If your child resists bedtime, then get the routine going by adding an incentive that comes with going to bed. These include praise or a sticker chart for reward to encourage good behaviour.
- Night Wakings: If your child wakes up many times during the night, reassure them calmly and then return them to their bed. In time, they learn to resettle back into sleep.
- Separation Anxiety: If your child has difficulty at night time being alone, offer additional reassurance through the medium of discussing positive times during the day with them.
You can help your preschooler get restful, restoring sleep that supports overall development by following a bedtime routine every night, providing a sleep-friendly environment, and avoiding common sleep saboteurs.
We, at Podar Prep, encourage parents to prioritise their child’s sleep as a part of one big system of early childhood education. Interested in laying healthy sleep habits in your child? Click here to enrol now!
