Hello again, and welcome to a new Wednesday series I have launched, where each Wednesday I will give you my favourite tips to glow-up your child’s sleep (and I also have some tired mama tips too!). Disclaimer: There is no 5am early morning-let’s watch the sunrise and drink lemon water over here. This is practical, evidence-based day to day easy sleep advice anyone can do!
Todays glow-up is looking at your child’s sleep and three easy steps that have been proven to help with sleep.
1.Darkness
Out of a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the lightest and 10 being the darkest, you really want your child’s room at about a 7 or 8. It sounds simple, but that darkness is really helping you little one to produce that sleep hormone, melatonin. Especially here in the UK, as we have lighter mornings, keeping it dark can have such a beneficial effect on lengthening those sleep cycles. So think black-out blinds or black-out curtains, and use them for any day time naps too.
2.Noise
I’m a big fan of using some form of white noise for you child’s sleep. White noise has been shown to be a fantastic aid for sleep, and especially in very young children, its recreating those noises that they heard in the womb. Moreover, using a form of white noise really blocks out any external noises in your household, whether that is someone getting up early for work, the next door neighbours dog or an aeroplane overhead. The white noise will muffle these external sounds, helping your child stay in a deeper sleep. If you are using white noise, be sure to use it for any day time naps too! (And for more information on white noise please check out my instagram page @sleepnurseuk!)
3. Temperature
The ideal temperature is around 16-20C, so think about your child’s bedroom, too hot or too cold could just be affecting their sleep cycles, like Goldilocks’ porridge, we need it just right! Also, in those early hours of the morning, the room will naturally get colder, so if you have a child who thrashes around and takes the covers off, it could be waking them up when their body temperature drops. Think about layers, or for younger children, I’m a big fan of sleep-bags, as they ensure the temperature of your little one is kept constant.
4. Bedtime Routine
An age old tip, but still one of the best! Really think about your child’s bedtime routine, what is actually happening on the run up to bedtime? We want to be reducing any cortisol (stress hormone) and increasing the oxytocin hormone (calm and relaxing hormone). Great ideas are stories, a relaxing bath and really try and incorporate some 1:1 time if you can, it really can make all the difference and set your child up for a great night’s sleep.
Thank you so much for reading, and if you would like some bonus glow-up tips today, find me over on instagram @sleepnurseuk and DM me the word ‘glow-up’ and I’ll message you three more that I use in my sleep consulting. Have a great Wednesday.
