Myth 1: Sleep has no effect on a child’s weight
In fact the opposite is the case. In several studies over the past few years, a link has been found between sleep deprivation and the increased risk of obesity in both children and adults. One study in 2006 which looked at over 28,000 children found that infants who slept less than 12 hours a day ran almost twice the risk of becoming overweight preschoolers. The experts’ recommendation is that parents should use sleep hygiene techniques (e.g. bedtime rituals) to improve the length of time their children sleep for in order to prevent them from becoming overweight.Myth 2: There is no such thing as a ‘sleep inducing’ food
There are actually several foods that can help your child feel ready for sleep:
Porridge: oats contain small amounts of melatonin, the hormone that promotes sleep.
Honey: although too much sugar is stimulating, a little glucose is thought to be helpful for sleep because it tells your brain to turn off orexin, which is linked to alertness.
Bananas: if your child was just to eat one bedtime food, then the banana would probably be it. As well as having the tryptophan, it also contains the sleep hormones melatonin and serotonin, and magnesium, which is a muscle relaxant. Bananas mashed with warm milk and honey would be a super-sleep combination.
Myth 3: It’s hard to make sure our children get enough exercise
Every child should have 60 active minutes of exercise a day, but many children don’t get this – partly because many parents don’t know how much exercise their children should be getting. It shouldn’t be difficult. An hour a day may sound like a lot but this doesn’t have to be taken all in one go. If it’s easier you can divide the time into 15-minute slots throughout the day. And exercise in the daylight will help your child feel tired at bedtime and sleep well throughout the night. The combination of exercise and daylight works synergistically to regulate the body's sleep/wake cycle.
Myth 4: It doesn’t matter how you approach bedtime, as long as the kids get to bed
In fact, a bedtime ritual can be hugely effective in making sure your child sleeps well every night. The American journal Sleep recently published the findings of a study in which 405 mothers of young children with mild sleep behaviour problems were shown how to follow a very simple bedtime ritual. This included a bath time followed by a massage, then story time before lights out. The results showed the routine had many benefits:
• It significantly improved sleep and bedtime behaviour in infants and toddlers – including the time it took for the child to get to sleep, the number of times they woke up during the night and how long they slept for.
• Toddlers were less likely to call out for their parents or get out of bed in the night.
• The reduction in the children’s sleep problems meant that the mood of the mothers who were surveyed was considerably improved. This in turn had a beneficial effect on the children’s sleep. Because the mother was less stressed, the bedtime experience for the child became happier, and this helped them fall asleep more easily too.
