This can help YOU even if you don't have kids.
Is bedtime a positive or frustrating experience in your home?
Do you struggle to get your kid(s) to sleep?
Even if you don't have kids, you can use the information below to upgrade your own bedtime routine!
Winding down is important for everyone, no matter your age.
Modern life often contradicts our natural circadian rhythm – the 24-hour clock our body is designed to function on.
Disruption of our natural circadian rhythm can lead to hormone imbalances.
Two hormones key to sleep quality and quantity are cortisol and melatonin – which are inversely proportional, i.e. one must be low for the other to be high.
Optimal physiology sees cortisol at it's highest when we wake and it's lowest as we prepare to sleep.
Stress – in the form of light, sound, mental load, worry, anxiety, diet and physical activity – keeps cortisol high, and therefore melatonin low, which is not ideal for sleep.
So, in order to wind down, we must consider our overall stress load and reduce it as much as possible wherever we can:
Sound: turn off notifications, mute devices, stick with soothing or no music
Mental: unload your mind onto a list, share your worries with a trusted someone, think about the things you're grateful for to shift your mindset from stressed to safe
Diet: save any sugary snacks for earlier in the day and cease eating and drinking at least 90-minutes before bedtime
Physical activity: try to move a lot throughout the day (to help manage stress), keep heart-pumping activities for morning and afternoon, and stick to gentle movements from dinner on
Light: turn off screens, dim indoor lights, close blackout curtains
"Infants raised in our post-modern world face adverse external circadian signals, such as artificial light, which may increase interference with the physiological mechanisms that promote circadian synchronization," says a recent paper in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology. "Light is the strongest environmental time cue to our internal clocks and exposing the developing clock to non-optimal lighting may have disruptive and long-lasting effects."
How much sleep does your child need?
According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, "Every child is different – some sleep a lot and others much less."
The information below is the CPS's "general guide to the amount of sleep children need over a 24-hour period, including nighttime sleep and daytime naps":
Infants (4-12 months old) – 12-16 hours
Toddlers (1-2 years old) – 11-14 hours
Children (3-5 years old) – 10-13 hours
Children (6-12 years) – 9-12 hours
Teenagers (13-18 years old) – 8-10 hours
[Adults (18+ years old) – 7-9 hours]
Winding down, so that we can all have a good sleep, is a big deal at our place!
And the reward: 12-13 hours (straight!) of sleep each night for our daughter, and 7-8 hours for us (closer to 7 for me and closer to 8 for my husband).
Here's our nightly schedule:
(which follows our daily schedule of getting plenty of fresh air, natural light, physical activity, hydration and good nutrition in the morning and early afternoon)
1. Finish screen time at least 2 hours before lights out (4pm is our weekend cut-off, and no screens on weekdays).
2. Dim all lights throughout home (dimmer switches are an amazing investment).
3. Mealtime communion without distractions (#diningroomdeviceban: no TV, no phones, no devices of any kind – just fully present connection and nourishment).
4. No food or drink after dinner (we usually start dinner before 5pm).
5. Soothing sanctuary in the bathroom for teeth brushing and bath time (cuddles, calm voices, and maybe a lavender candle).
6. Soothing sanctuary in the bedroom for story time (cuddles and gentle voices for 15-25 minutes of reading).
7. One last pee (empty bladders help you sleep through the night!).
8. Lights out and lullabies in the dark (reassuring parental presence for transition to darkness, between 6:00-6:15pm)
9. Good night, I love you so much!! (Now it's time to celebrate some adult time before your bedtime!!)
What's your nightly schedule?
Do you generally stick to the same routine on weekdays and weekends?
Through some trial and error, we are pretty rigid with our nightly routine – it's just not worth the impact a poor sleep has on the following day.
There are very few grumpy mornings in our home, and I really think our sleep schedule is largely to thank for that.
I hope that you found something helpful here today!
Wishing you restful nights – and cheerful mornings :)