needs a standing 7 p.m. date with his bed. A teen who can stay awake for 16 hours and needs to get up at 6 a.m. needs to fall asleep around 10 p.m. Nix nightlights. You may love the way your child’s smile lights up a room, but when it comes to sleep, the best light is no light at all. Nighttime light disrupts melatonin production, and even a small nightlight or the light from electronics or a baby monitor can be enough to prevent deep, restful
Rest Well Stay Well W
Support , Immune Systems with Sleep
By Malia Jacobson
hen it comes to staying healthy, all the hand sanitizer in the world won’t make up for lost hours of sleep. Getting enough sleep supports a healthy immune system, while sleep deprivation handicaps your immune response, leaving you, or your night-owl children, more susceptible to viral illness.
During sleep, the body releases proteins called cytokines that play a role in fighting infection. During periods of sleep deprivation, infection-fighting cells are reduced. Chronic sleep loss can even make vaccines less effective, according to research. Here’s how to build a better bedtime and a stronger immune system, starting tonight. Do the math. A healthy sleep routine starts with bedtime. According to sleep expert Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D., late bedtimes cause many 22 MendoLakeFamilyLife
childhood sleep problems, because overtiredness makes it harder for children to get to sleep and stay asleep. But figuring out when to put your child to bed isn’t easy. To find your children’s bedtimes, first determine how many hours of sleep they need in a 24-hour period. This will determine how many hours they can comfortably stay awake per day. For example, a one-year-old who needs 14 hours of daily sleep can stay awake for 10 hours per day. If he gets up at 6 a.m. and naps for 3 hours each day, he
Late bedtimes cause many childhood sleep problems. sleep. Dim the house lights after dinner and install effective blackout blinds to get the bedroom truly dark. Embrace boring. Sleep doctors agree that an effective bedtime routine is one that’s absolutely set in stone: the same things, in the same order, every night. “Our bodies love routine, and this is especially so with children and bedtime,” says Teitelbaum. Performing the same events in the same sequence before bed cues a child’s subconscious for sleep. Shut down media mayhem. Bright lights, fast-paced activity, and over-stimulating content are bedtime don’ts. So television, which pours out light and stimulation just as kids should be winding down for sleep, has no place in a bedtime routine. Numerous studies have linked television-watching with poor sleep in children, yet it remains a common evening activity in millions of households with young kids. Shut off screens an hour before bedtime and
August 2020 www.mendolakefamilylife.com
