The fact that it is still light outside when her bed time hits doesn't help matters. Nor do the neighbor kids (same age give or take 2 - 3 years) playing outside way past a time when they should be in bed. When it's light she wants to continue playing in her room. She's gotten quite good at quietly sneaking toys, books, puzzles, etc., into her bed. Kids playing outside keep her up if they are being loud, which they usually are. But I'll admit that overall she does pretty well going to sleep at night. We've had several talks with her about the importance of sleeping and how it helps your body recharge. I recently found a neat website for parents and kids that discusses the importance of sleep. If you and/or your child are struggling with sleep, check out Sleep for Kids. This site has a great deal of information plus games and activities for you and your child, all on the topic of sleep.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Sleeping and Children
As adults we know that sleeping is important but we have a tendency to ignore our bodies and forgo the necessary number of hours our body needs. According to the Mayo Clinic an adult needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. Fortunately I'm able to do this most nights. Although an adult may feel fine after a few hours, studies show that they do worse on mental tasks. Sleep is just as important, if not more important for kids.
With my 5 year old starting kindergarten 2 weeks ago we had to adjust her bed time and her wake up time. In order to get dressed, eat breakfast, and catch the bus in the morning her wake up time was pushed an hour earlier than she normally wakes on her own. As a result we had to push her bed time earlier too. Thus far she's been pretty good at getting up in the morning. There were a couple of days where she was slow to rise, but overall I'm impressed with her morning efforts. Given a full day of school and lack of a true rest time, she gets cranky and non-cooperative around dinner time. She hasn't napped on a regular basis since just before she turned 4. Normally we give her a true rest period each day where she sits on the couch and watches a movie or reads books quietly. Now that she's not getting that true rest period, she's trying to adjust.
The fact that it is still light outside when her bed time hits doesn't help matters. Nor do the neighbor kids (same age give or take 2 - 3 years) playing outside way past a time when they should be in bed. When it's light she wants to continue playing in her room. She's gotten quite good at quietly sneaking toys, books, puzzles, etc., into her bed. Kids playing outside keep her up if they are being loud, which they usually are. But I'll admit that overall she does pretty well going to sleep at night. We've had several talks with her about the importance of sleeping and how it helps your body recharge. I recently found a neat website for parents and kids that discusses the importance of sleep. If you and/or your child are struggling with sleep, check out Sleep for Kids. This site has a great deal of information plus games and activities for you and your child, all on the topic of sleep.
The fact that it is still light outside when her bed time hits doesn't help matters. Nor do the neighbor kids (same age give or take 2 - 3 years) playing outside way past a time when they should be in bed. When it's light she wants to continue playing in her room. She's gotten quite good at quietly sneaking toys, books, puzzles, etc., into her bed. Kids playing outside keep her up if they are being loud, which they usually are. But I'll admit that overall she does pretty well going to sleep at night. We've had several talks with her about the importance of sleeping and how it helps your body recharge. I recently found a neat website for parents and kids that discusses the importance of sleep. If you and/or your child are struggling with sleep, check out Sleep for Kids. This site has a great deal of information plus games and activities for you and your child, all on the topic of sleep.
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