Getting a kid into bed during the summer months might just be one of the most difficult things you’ve ever had to do. Children are intrinsically so full of life and it’s in their nature to resist any kind of preconceived paradigm about sleep, diet or just about anything else. This is because their minds are still being developed, so they seek as many stimuli as possible, all of the time.
During the summer, when school is out of the picture this becomes even more of an issue, because nowadays school is often the only responsibility that our children have. And when you don’t have any responsibilities, even adults tend to behave more chaotically instead of orderly, and this can often result in the disruption of one’s sleep cycle.
Today, I want to talk about just some of the ways in which you can help your kids keep their healthy, normal sleep cycles during the summer, and what it is that you’re possibly doing to contribute to their degradation.
Keep a Routine
First of all, you’re going to have to solve the problem that your kids have nothing to do during summer mornings. It’s only natural for this to happen, since all-year round mornings are the time they usually spend in school. You need to replace this obligation with a different one; sign them up for some kind of sport, task them with helping around the house in morning hours – in short, you need to give them a reason to wake up, because otherwise, why should they get out of bed just to spend the next few hours staring at a wall?
Expend Their Energy
Kids have loads of energy, and this sheer amount of it is often underestimated by adults. We’re so used to seeing the world from a perspective of a full-time employee that usually wants nothing more than to just take a nap in front of the TV when we get home from work. It’s an entirely different situation with kids, and unless they have some way to expend this massive amount of energy, they aren’t going to be remotely sleepy when they ought to be.
Dark Rooms
Our circadian rhythm is a complex thing and depends on many different factors, but the most important one is definitely the pattern of light that reaches our eyes during the day. What I mean by this is that we as humans are wired to get up when the sun rises (when there’s more light), and go to sleep when it sets (when there’s less light). There’s actually a hormone within our brain called melatonin that is responsible for helping us fall asleep, and this hormone is synthesized when the light level drops akin to a sunset. So make sure to dim those lights before the sun sets, and turn them off completely an hour before you want your kids to fall asleep, and also limit their use of anything that has a bright screen, since this can also impair melatonin production.
Expose Them to Sunlight
Alright, so we know that light right before we go to bed is a bad thing and should be avoided, but during the day we should actually try to get as much of it as possible. Various studies have shown that being exposed to more sunlight will help you improve the quality of your sleep and do wonders for your sleep cycle, so it’s a good idea to send your kids outside on a sunny day. Of course, since the sunlight is quite intense during these few months it’s essential that you provide them with some kind of protection, like sunscreen and a hat to prevent heatstroke.
Watch the Thermometer
Finally, it is insanely important that your kids’ rooms are not too warm by the time they need to go to bed. Our body temperature actually needs to be a bit lower than usual before we go to bed, and this is hard to experience naturally when it is 100 degrees outside. Some people actually experience full-on insomnia during the summer, because they can’t fall asleep properly due to the heat. So whether it’s installing an AC, limiting the amount of sunlight that enters your kids’ rooms or planting a tree in front of their window, do anything that you reasonably can to keep their rooms cool during the summer months.
Theresa Brawner is a 28-year-old fitness instructor from Boston, MA, who writes articles for www.diet.st. in her free time. When she isn’t helping new moms get back in shape, you can find her in the kitchen, working on new recipes.
