5 Tips for Helping Your Child Sleep Better

While some children rarely experience difficulties with sleep, many others struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep throughout the night. There are several steps parents can take to ensure that their child falls asleep faster and sleeps better.

2. Establish Routines

Children, like adults, feel comfortable following established routines. The University of Michigan Health System suggests creating patterns throughout the day. This includes not just regular evening routines, but setting a specific time to get up each morning and making sure to eat all meals at the same time during the day. It’s important to keep daily schedules simple so they can be used even when you’re not at home. A soothing routine for most children will include time spent listening to a story or cuddling with a trusted adult before it’s time to drift off to sleep. It’s important, however, for children to actually fall asleep on their own without relying on an adult to be in the room.

2. Avoid Large Meals Before Bedtime

Eating large meals right before bedtime may interfere with a child’s ability to fall asleep quickly and stay asleep throughout the night. Some parents may mistakenly believe that a full tummy will help their child fall asleep easier. The truth is, a big meal will increase metabolism and make it difficult to stay asleep for the entire night. If your child needs to eat within a few hours of bedtime, there are foods that can promote sleep as well as those that may hinder the sleeping process. Avoid sugary foods, and especially anything with caffeine, such as chocolate or soda. The Baby Sleep Site states that foods rich in tryptophan can produce brain chemicals that aid in sleep. A few foods high in tryptophan include turkey, eggs and whole wheat bread.

3. Create a Soothing Environment

When decorating your child’s room. certain color combinations will provide a more soothing atmosphere than others. It’s often recommended to paint a room with neutral colors such as beige and light brown. Blues and greens are considered cooler colors and are often associated with calm and relaxation. Make sure to avoid warm colors when decorating a child’s bedroom. These include red, orange and bright yellow. A soothing environment also means allowing children to sleep with their favorite stuffed animals, dolls and blankets.

4. Unplug Electrical Devices

Electronic devices, and especially a television, should not be in your child’s bedroom. Video and computer games should be played in an area other than the room in which a child sleeps. The devices that are kept in a child’s room should be completely unplugged at bedtime. According to Today’s Parent, televisions, cell phones and even baby monitors can emit electrical fields that potentially interfere with sleep. This may occur even when they are turned off. It’s also important to make sure that televisions, stereos and other loud things that adults may be listening to in the house can’t be heard in a child’s room after bedtime.

5. Treat Any Sleep Problems

Sometimes all of your efforts as a parent aren’t enough to help your child sleep better. There are several types of sleeping disorders that a child may be struggling with. WebMD describes two general categories of sleep disorders that can affect children. Dyssomnias can include insufficient sleep syndrome, limit-setting sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnea and snoring. Parasomnias will include nightmares, night terrors and sleep walking. Daytime drowsiness, taking longer than 30 to 60 minutes to fall asleep, and teeth grinding may all be symptoms of a sleep disorder.

While every child’s difficulty with sleep can be different, following these basic guidelines will likely help improve your child’s quality of sleep. If there is a problem that requires medical intervention, it’s important to find a qualified physician who has experience and training in the field of pediatric sleep disorders.

If you suspect your child has a sleep disorder, please contact us at (281) 586-3888, or fill out an appointment request and we will call you to schedule an appointment at a time convenient for you. You may also visit our walk-in clinic for same-day care without an appointment.