Kids Sleep

Have you ever been in a mall at 8 or 9 PM? After being in retail for as long as I have, my answer is yes. It is amazing to me to see the number of really young children there, even in strollers. Now, it is important to note that most all of the kids I'm talking about are accompanied by their parents, and this is what we need to talk about today.

It is important that kids get enough rest. At young ages, they are easily distracted, and frankly do not even consider sleep an option a lot of times, they just drift off when ever they are tired. The problem is that when they are young, it is important to set habits that will follow them through their lives.

Improper sleep in adults is a major concern. We sleep too little these days, how many seem to boast about "I got 5 hours sleep, and feel great". And maybe they do, however, lack of sleep like many things will eventually cause health concerns. It is important to get our kids in the proper habit. But what is the proper habit?


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How about first a consistent routine. Our bodies, and theirs, are programed on a roughly 24 hour clock, broken into 12 hour segments. If we are not consistent, then our bodies get confused and when we do sleep it is not the best quality. A certain bed time and wake time is important (and it should be 7 days a week, 365 days a year). Then our bodies will react and thrive.

When we are sleep deprived, our bodies make products related to stress, which among other things can cause us to gain weight, and be less productive than if the stress is controlled or eliminated. In the case of kids, we know that many are concerned about childhood obesity, while other things like overall activity would help improve that, a simple thing like a consistent bed time can help them be more active, because they got great rest. In kids we have a great way to judge productivity, maybe better than adults do, its called grades.

So getting the proper amount and quality of sleep may help 2 of the biggest problems our kids face today, obesity, and grades (could all the ADHD be sleep related as well? Is it not?). Grades will affect their choice of college, or job opportunities as will their appearance. So as my Mom always said "It's your bedtime, no discussion..."

Sleep Well!