Pull the Plug
Power down! All those electronic devices could be harming your kids’ sleep. The National Sleep Foundation recently reported that kids who have screens in their bedrooms (including TVs) sleep an average of one hour less per night than their unplugged counterparts. (And since the study also found that nearly 75 percent of kids have electronics in their rooms, that’s a lot of lost sleep.) The fix? Start docking your kids’ gadgets (and yours!) in the kitchen before bed so everyone sleeps more soundly.
Here’s Why You’re So Tired
Surviving on catnaps in between baby’s middle-of-the-night feedings? You may as well pull an all-nighter, according to a Sleep Medicine study. Researchers found subjects whose sleep was interrupted four times during the night displayed the same levels of confusion, fatigue and depression as those who didn’t sleep at all. Our advice: Take turns with your partner handling your baby’s wakeup calls, so you get a good night’s sleep at least every other night. (If you’re breastfeeding, pump before bed so your partner has plenty to offer the baby.)
More Guilt for Working Parents
Logging long hours at the office can be just as detrimental to your kids as it is to you. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers found preschoolers whose parents worked more than 35 hours a week slept fewer hours and had higher BMIs than those whose moms worked a part-time schedule. In fact, they often got about 9.6 hours of sleep—far less than the recommended 11 to 12. Researchers believe working parents are sacrificing their children’s sleep to extend their quality time with them.
Natural Night Owls
Now there’s a scientific explanation for why your 14 year old sleeps until noon. When teens hit puberty, they experience a nightly uptick in the production of melatonin (aka the sleep hormone), which alters their circadian rhythms, making them naturally stay up later and sleep in longer, according to a new Brown University study. This research comes just months after the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendation that high schools start no earlier than 8:30 am. In fact, in December 2014 the NJ Senate passed a bill requiring the Department of Education to consider (based on a study of the potential positive and negative impacts) implementing later start times in middle and high schools statewide.
Don’t Snooze, You Lose?
Is there a link between sleep disorders and serious mental health issues? According to a recent study in Child Psychiatry and Human Development, sleep issues like insomnia are most common in children with diagnosed psychiatric problems like attention deficit, anxiety and disruptive behaviors. But it’s a chicken or egg problem—researchers were unable to determine whether the sleeplessness led to the mental health issues or vice versa. If your child has a behavioral issue, researchers recommend talking with your mental health care provider to see if helping your child sleep better at night could improve the treatment of their ADHD or other mental health issues.
More Like This:
Are Your Children Getting Enough Sleep?
How Sleep Boosts Learning
Healthy Sleep Routines for Babies
