Healthy Sleep Habits

Button Down Healthy Sleep Habits for Special Needs Kids | Grade-Schoolers | Canadian Parents - Canada's Parenting Community

Tips for a Good Night's Sleep

Avoid late afternoon or evening caffeine and sugar consumption. (Sodas are usually a huge source of both sugar and caffeine.)

Avoid eating dinner later than three hours before bed if it seems to energize your child. (Eating too late at night raises the metabolic rate and energizes some children.) If your child has a bedtime snack, have it half an hour to an hour before bed.

Limit overstimulation. Limit television and video-game playing as well as reading an especially exciting book before bed. Play beautiful, soothing music of your choice to help calm and relax your household.

Have a quiet period just before bed. An easing-off period is important because most children have trouble going from full throttle to sleeping peacefully.

Have an evening bedtime snack that contains tryptophan. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that the brain converts into melatonin, which assists in sleep. Many children find a glass of warm milk calming and it is a good source of tryptophan. Other sources of tryptophan include cottage cheese, yogurt, pineapples, plums, bananas, eggs, turkey, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, cashews and peanuts. It's best to combine these tryptophan rich foods with complex carbohydrates like whole-grain cereals, bread or potatoes; it helps the brain to absorb the tryptophan. Bedtime snack suggestions: whole-grain cereal with milk, oatmeal with milk, peanut butter sandwich with ground sesame seeds, oatmeal cookies with milk.

Give your child a ten minute warning before it's time to get ready for bed to help him make the transition and finish up what he is doing.

Have a consistent bedtime and a consistent bedtime routine. A warm bath is particularly soothing for most children because it relaxes the muscles and gets their bodies ready for rest.

If your child is overly sensitive to light or sound, keep the lights dim and speak quietly throughout the bedtime routine.

Teach your child relaxation techniques such as those described in The Floppy Sleep Game Book.