I am a stay-at-home mother of one and have been homeschooling my daughter for the past four years. I have suffered from sleep apnea since I was a baby and also deal with Chronic Major Depression.
cookiesandclogs submitted a way to: Sleep
way to be well created 12.24.10
Making Sure Your Little Ones Get Enough of It
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When we talk about healthy living, our children are certainly the ones we are most concerned about. There is much we cannot control but we, as parents, can do our best to make sure they get the rest they need to grow and thrive. So how much sleep do they need?
Typically 10-12 hours, especially important when they must rise early for school or daycare. This gets harder to enforce as they grow older but with busy days, it is crucial that they get those deep sleep cycles in. We've already covered how a lack of sleep can affect the mind and body and we don't that for our little ones. Plus, if they are are properly rested, the day will begin much better as you will not have to fight them as much to get up and ready. When my daughter was younger, we always tried to get her to bed around 7:30pm regardless of how hard she tried to fight it. Things come up and sometimes compromises had to be made but overall we tried to keep consistent in having her go to sleep at that time. Since she has gotten older and homeschooling does not require to get up that early, we have adjusted her bedtime a bit. Now she goes to bed between 9:00-9:30pm.
Around 8 years old, putting little ones to sleep gets increasingly difficult. Help them to see that nothing particularly interesting happens when they go to sleep and they are not missing out on anything. Drinks of water are not recommended, unless they are parched, because that just means they will have to go to the restroom more often. If there is something they find scary, be sure to turn on the light and show them exactly what the shadow actually is. If they are hungry, tell them the sooner they go the sleep the sooner they can wake up to have breakfast. If they are afraid of the dark, use a dim night-light until they no longer need it. If possible, try not to have them sleep with you unless they had a really bad nightmare or don't feel well. They, and you, will benefit from that in the long run.
The earlier your kids go to sleep, the more time you will have to yourself in the evening. Even more important though, your children will be happy, bright, and healthy if you do everything in your power to get them enough rest.
Typically 10-12 hours, especially important when they must rise early for school or daycare. This gets harder to enforce as they grow older but with busy days, it is crucial that they get those deep sleep cycles in. We've already covered how a lack of sleep can affect the mind and body and we don't that for our little ones. Plus, if they are are properly rested, the day will begin much better as you will not have to fight them as much to get up and ready. When my daughter was younger, we always tried to get her to bed around 7:30pm regardless of how hard she tried to fight it. Things come up and sometimes compromises had to be made but overall we tried to keep consistent in having her go to sleep at that time. Since she has gotten older and homeschooling does not require to get up that early, we have adjusted her bedtime a bit. Now she goes to bed between 9:00-9:30pm.
Around 8 years old, putting little ones to sleep gets increasingly difficult. Help them to see that nothing particularly interesting happens when they go to sleep and they are not missing out on anything. Drinks of water are not recommended, unless they are parched, because that just means they will have to go to the restroom more often. If there is something they find scary, be sure to turn on the light and show them exactly what the shadow actually is. If they are hungry, tell them the sooner they go the sleep the sooner they can wake up to have breakfast. If they are afraid of the dark, use a dim night-light until they no longer need it. If possible, try not to have them sleep with you unless they had a really bad nightmare or don't feel well. They, and you, will benefit from that in the long run.
The earlier your kids go to sleep, the more time you will have to yourself in the evening. Even more important though, your children will be happy, bright, and healthy if you do everything in your power to get them enough rest.
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