Does your child have trouble sleeping?
Some kids struggle to get to sleep, and others have trouble staying asleep.
Insomnia, bedtime fears, night terrors, and bed-wetting are common children’s sleep problems.
If you are a parent on a mission to help your child sleep better, this blog is for you. In this blog, we’ll dive into what causes insomnia in children, the importance of sleep for children, and tips to ensure your child gets the rest they need.
With BLOOM’s Sleep course, discover the easiest, least stressful, most holistic way to address your child’s sleep challenges.
Let’s talk about all things sleep!
Childhood Insomnia and Implications for Adulthood
Studies have shown childhood insomnia often affects how we sleep as adults. If your child wakes up frequently at night or has trouble settling down, it could mean they’re struggling with insomnia, one of the biggest sleep issues among kids.
Insomnia, bedtime fears, night terrors, sleepwalking, and bed-wetting can disrupt your child’s natural sleep pattern. Some children may not feel tired at their designated bedtime, while others have trouble falling asleep without a parent. Some kids will frequently wake up in the middle of the night, suddenly wide awake, and either toss and turn or come and wake up mom and dad. Stress, caffeine, medications, or other medical conditions can also cause insomnia in children.
Children with insomnia symptoms are likely to persist with them as young adults. They are significantly more likely to develop an insomnia disorder in early adulthood compared to children who do not have difficulty sleeping.
The Importance of Sleep for Children
Children and teens typically need more sleep than adults to function at their best.
Telltale signs that your child is not getting enough sleep include:
-Irritability
-Trouble concentrating
-Falling asleep in the car
-Trouble waking or falling back to sleep after getting them up for the day.
Building good sleep habits as a baby and young child will also set children up for successful sleep as an adult. From a very young age, developing a bedtime routine, staying consistent at bedtime, allowing self-soothing, paying attention to naps, and switching from crib to bed at the appropriate age will all help support the necessary sleep your child needs at each developmental age.
Scientists have long recognized that getting ample sleep during childhood supports help brain development. As a parent, there are clear benefits for you and your child if your child is a good sleeper!
6 Tips to Support Your Child’s Sleep
These factors will help any baby or child (or even an adult) to fall asleep well.
- Arrange a balanced schedule with interspersed periods of rest and play. Physical activity each day is incredibly important for quality sleep!
- Block the sunlight–use dark curtains to block out light or a nightlight if they’re scared of the dark.
- Keep the bedroom quiet, or use a white noise machine to mask outside sounds.
- Socialization helps to check the physical activity box and stimulates your child’s brain which is very important to achieve quality sleep.
- Set the room thermostat to a cooler temperature.
- Balanced meals and snacks and drinking enough during the day. Avoid caffeine, large meals, and sugary treats before bedtime. Opt for a healthy bedtime snack if necessary.
Bonus tip: Hemi-Sync is a company that produces neuroscience-based audio recordings to help ease the listener through physical and emotional challenges, and they offer an entire line of recordings devoted to sleep enhancement. These particular audio recordings include ocean sounds, music, and binaural beats. The first two are helpful for sleep, but the other two are more stimulating for daytime activities: Surf and Lullabye
Once you’ve chosen your audio recording, set up shop in your child’s room. You can either download a digital recording or purchase the CD. We recommend keeping the recording on for two weeks in a row, on repeat, for the entire night. Keep the volume low so the music remains in the background. Although you want to help your kids fall and stay asleep more easily, you don’t want them getting so used to the music that they rely on it in order to stay asleep. It’s a good idea to change the routine after two weeks. At this point, the recording should stay on for just the first part of the night-time ritual, bedtime, and the first few hours of sleep. You can turn it off when you go to bed.
Help Your Child With Insomnia
Those who are suffering from a lack of sleep tend to have difficulty regulating their emotions. It’s a challenge for them to stay calm, and they’ll find themselves feeling edgy and frustrated easily. Getting up in the morning will be tough for insomnia sufferers, and so will focusing and attending optimally during the day.
If your child is experiencing insomnia, taking steps to help them overcome it now will support their sleep habits into adulthood. Your efforts will not be short-lived!
Through BLOOM, you can watch our excellent approach to sleep training babies 6+ months. We offer:
-A method that really works and leaves everyone confident, happier, and obviously well-rested.
-Tried and true techniques that will help bedtime with young children have a smoother, easier process.
-Recommended non-invasive tools that can help children with trouble falling asleep.
-Comprehensive guidelines for special circumstances, including bedwetting, needy children, and racing minds.
You can also discover BLOOM’s Sleep course–say goodbye to night-time frustrations and midnight child-in-my-bed visits. BLOOM’s courses meet your family at your point of need, offering support and guidance through the difficult moments of parenting children of different ages.
