It goes without saying that we all need good quality rest and sleep, but achieving the right balance between activity, rest and sleep can be difficult for us, when every day brings new challenges and demands on our precious time.
Sleep, however, needs to be a top priority to consolidate your child’s learning as your brain uses sleep time for this important activity. A good night’s rest is essential to a healthy lifestyle: protecting you physically and mentally, as well as boosting your quality of life.
Recent research has shown that slow wave sleep (the deep sleep when it is hard to wake people up) is particularly important for our health, memory, and emotion processing. It is also crucial to maintaining and supporting mental, physical, and emotional health and well-being.
That means that when your children are sleeping, their brains are busy processing the day’s events and preparing for the day ahead. When your child is well-rested and calm, they are more ready to cope with stimulating learning activities that engage their minds and their bodies. When they are tired, or have poor sleep routines, their concentration is likely to be poor and they will not be able to participate fully in their sessions. They are also more likely to pick up infections and get sick.
So, how much sleep do kids need?
The current advice is that around 10-12 hours of sleep a night is a good target for children, together with maintaining regular sleep and wake times, avoiding technology before bedtime and not eating late. However, it is the quality of the sleep that is most important. In addition, it is a great idea to audit all your bedrooms for distractions (adults and children), as this is an easy way to start improving your sleep experience.
Where to Start?
A bedtime routine is important in getting a good night’s sleep. A routine helps to support children’s body clocks and aid relaxation. Consistency is important, and ideally you need to spend about an hour winding down to bedtime.
● Bedding
Colours and textures should be cool and fresh. Think about choosing shades that help you feel calm and rested.
● Silk Pillowcases
We really like MayfairSilk100% .These are recommended by award-winning skin care professionals and designed by a team who source fine silk to make luxurious pillowcases that can also improve skin quality and smoothen out ‘bed hair’. They are a real treat for all members of the family. Additionally, silk pillowcases can provide relief for sensitive skin as no harmful chemicals are involved.
● Temperature
Keep the room cool, even a little cold as this supports better sleep quality.
● Clutter
Remove unnecessary items from the bed and surrounding area. Your mind finds it harder to switch off if aware of objects/ items that are claiming your attention.
● Light sources
Ensure that there is no light escaping from technology such as mobiles and eliminate light from outside, as far as possible.
● Daily rituals
Design your own or your family rituals around bedtime that are positive rather than negative and that support building good sleep habits.
By ticking these off one by one, you’ll be well on your way to sleep heaven!
We hope you enjoyed this blog. Stay tuned next week for our next edition. As always, if you would like to book a trial class for Dadi or Otto2, please get in touch.
You may also be interested in reading Strategies to Improve Social Communication Through Language Activities.
Developed for Dadi Mandarin and written by WOI.