Today, March 15, World Dream Day is celebrated, an international initiative that aims to raise public awareness about the importance of maintaining good sleep hygiene.
Those healthy resting habits should begin in childhood. Parents have to teach our children to sleep, as well as to eat, because a lack of sleep has a negative impact on the child and also on his family.
This is stated by Dr. Marta Moraleda, neurophysiologist, child sleep expert and member of the Spanish Sleep Society (SES), who explains how many hours do you need to sleep and why, in addition to the guidelines to achieve it and the warning signs of possible sleep disorders.
How many hours of sleep do children need?
It depends on your age. A newborn spends an average of 16 hours sleeping, and nighttime awakenings are very common. Little by little he will regulate sleep at night, although during the first year he will need to sleep between 12 and 14 hours.
From two years of age and during all Primary education, the child sleep expert ensures that the child should rest between nine and eleven hours, and between eight and a half and nine and a half hours, during adolescence, "something difficult to achieve, since at this age the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, is delayed, so it takes longer to fall asleep."
In Babies and more How many hours of sleep do children need according to their age?Why is sleep so important in childhood?
During sleep improves memory and brain maturation, so little rest or poor sleep can affect children and adolescents during the day.
As Dr. Marta Moraleda explains, "Lack of sleep can alter behavior and mood, make them more active than usual, decrease their attention in class, make them appear unfriendly or more irritable."
It can also cause daytime sleepiness, learning and mental development problems and, therefore, affect your school performance.
But sleep experts point out more benefits of a good rest in children:
- It improves your development and fitness. Some phases of sleep are associated with body tissue repair and energy conservation and recovery.
During sleep the brain secretes different substances that regulate many of the body's functions, including growth hormone.
- It promotes the development of creativity. During the dream, brain repair processes occur, neurons are reorganized and they store what they have learned during the day, the most important memories are selected and those that are not are eliminated and forgotten.
Deep sleep facilitates the combination of thoughts in a novel way and lets the imagination run, allowing the appearance of the best ideas.
How to help them sleep well?
Sleep, like hunger, is a biological necessity. Sleeping well, like eating well, is a habit and, therefore, with constancy and repetitions you can learn.
Explains the neurophysiologist that we can teach our children to sleep well from babies. This means that we should let them cry until they fall asleep alone, but not stay with them until they are dreaming of the angels.
"Between these two positions, one white and one black, there are many shades of gray and that is where we should move. It is logical that for our work schedules we want to hug our children, pamper them as much as possible, even while they sleep."
He recommends accompanying the child with patience and understanding, favoring the transition to sleep with a ritual that will vary, as they grow, until they are completely autonomous at bedtime, which is the goal.
Dr. Moraleda says that to achieve this, the most important thing is to try routines in general and specific to sleep. Talk about:
Shower at a specific time.
Dine at a fixed time and lightly, to facilitate digestion and, therefore, rest.
Allow a relaxing time afterwards, which will serve as an introduction to sleep (between 20 and 30 minutes).
Go to bed and get up at the same time.
The child sleep expert insists even on keep schedules on weekends:
"We should not vary more than one hour, since the child's biological rhythm is stable, it is regulated by daylight, and it does not distinguish between daily days or parties. If we break his routine, his brain has to readjust and does not rest good".
In Babies and more, babies and children would benefit if the time change disappearsOther habits that help them sleep better:
Think and design a personal ritual that facilitates sleep. Some caresses, pampering, a story or a song at bedtime.
Look for adequate light and sound conditions. Your bedroom should be a place conducive to sleep; that is, fresh, dark and calm.
Avoid doing activities physical, mental or emotional late in the day, because that accelerates the brain, when it should relax to go to sleep.
Restrict chocolate consumption as much as possible and soda with excites such as caffeine or theine.
Limit the use of any type of screens. The light, noise and attention required by electronic devices create a state of excitement that prevents the child from being carried away by sleep. The child sleep expert insists that we should not ban technology, just limit its use:
"You have to park your mobile phone, tablet or game consoles an hour before going to sleep, since their screens emit a white or blue light that make the brain think that it is still day."
In Babies and moreThe screens, enemies of good children's sleepThe child can show resistance when adapting to these routines, but parents have to understand that with patience, perseverance and time can be achieved.
Symptoms of not resting well
According to the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN), 25 percent of the child population suffers from some type of sleep disorder, so it is advisable to be attentive to the rest of our children. According to the doctor, it is known if a child's dream is inappropriate when:
He gets up in a bad mood in the morning.
He complains of headaches on a regular basis.
Tends to have tantrums easily.
It shows hyperactive.
It is hard for him to concentrate.
Lower your performance in school.
You have frequent awakenings (3 to 5 times a night, more than three nights a week). Up to four years are frequent and should not worry.
He is over five years old and falls asleep during the day.
It takes more than half an hour to fall asleep.
Cry at night.
Snore
In Babies and more One of every four children suffers from sleep disorders: how to help our children have a proper rest It is necessary to consult with the pediatrician if his lack of sleep affects the child's daily life, his family or social relationships and his performance academic.The doctor also advises ask for help if the child suffers nightmares, night terrors or sleepwalking continuously (plus four times a week).
"In these cases the specialist will assess what happens to him, because sometimes childhood insomnia and awakening are due to respiratory problems (snoring is a signal) and solving them, the problems are over."
The child sleep expert wants to reassure parents by pointing out that nightmares are normal in childhood and that they usually resolve themselves.
"Parents are the benchmark that gives them security, so when they have a nightmare you have to offer them comfort, and give them reassuring messages that help them get back to sleep."
The same goes for sleepwalking. According to the expert, it usually has a genetic origin and disappears in adulthood.
To close the issue, Dr. Marta Moraleda reminds us that the child's rest is fundamental in its development, but it also influences family life: if you sleep poorly, your parents will also sleep poorly and that translates into lack of concentration, bad mood, physical fatigue, less ability to react at the wheel ...
So he insists on the importance of teaching healthy sleeping habits to children, for their own good and that of everyone.
Photos | iStock
