Helping A Restless Child Achieve Better Sleep

We all know how important it is for our children to enjoy a good amount of sleep. This can vary from eight to eleven hours depending on the age of your child. Many people assume it would be around eight hours as is evidenced by the adult requirement, but of course children are growing and developing, and they might need more time to rest. However, if your child is restless and unable to sleep effectively, this could have a knock on effect on the quality of their lives, This can bring intense shame, and it warrants an immediate fix. There might also be many different variables that have contributed to this outcome, and so resolving them at the root is as important as initially identifying the problem.

We’d suggest you take a close look at the following if you hope for your child to return to normal sleeping habits:

Sleeping Environment

Environment is king. It might be that even the most frequent sleeping issues can be soothed to no insignificant degree by tweaking this just a little more than you might think. It might be that there’s too much light in the room, and using indoor roller blinds could likely help you fix this issue. It might be noise is suppressing sleep, and removing an air filter, changing up bedrooms or installing double glazing (or faux double glazing with deep insulation for listed buildings) could be a much superior option. The bed type and material can also impact the sleep quality of children. Not only might the bed be too hard or soft, but it might be certain nylon blends or other materials could be harsher on the sensitive skin of a child, or overheat a bed even with the covers off. Ensure you take this into consideration.

Medical Issues

Medical issues can of course be a distinct negative when it comes to helping your child sleep. It might be that you need to suggest to a Doctor that sleep suppressants could be used, or ask to be referred to a sleep specialist. It might be that sleep apnea, respiratory issues or other difficulties need to be seen to, and are currently undiagnosed. It’s common for parents to consider a lack of sleep on the children misbehaving, but that is often not the case. Have your child checked out sooner rather than later, because negative habits damage incrementally.

Fixed Habits, Or Lack Thereof
Children benefit from fixed schedules. If they haven’t a regular bedtime, that can throw them off completely. Also, sometimes negative habits can develop. If you have to argue with your child to get them into bed, and shout at them when they do not sleep, your child will associate bedtime with hostility. That is the opposite of how you should hope bedtime to be viewed. With careful parenting, help with scheduling and careful discipline, you should be well on your way to a corrective solution.

Image Credit: Stevie Maxine Watson