Sleep Hygiene
- Your child should sleep in the same room consistently, not in a room utilized for most waketime activities. Do not allow your child to use the bed for anything but sleep - do not read, watch TV or eat in bed. Do not use "going to bed" as a punishment.
- Your child should sleep in a cool room, avoid temperature extremes.
- Encourage your child to develop a regular bedtime and get up at the same time each morning, even on weekends. This helps the body acquire a consistent sleep rhythm.
- Adjust the total sleep time to fit your child's age and needs. Please refer to the chart on previous page.
- Plan regular daily exercise for your child, preferably in the evenings using the leg and arm muscles but do not exercise for thirty minutes prior to bedtime.
- Encourage your child to avoid heavy meals within two hours of bedtime; however, a light snack such as milk or cheese or crackers at bedtime may be helpful. Do not give excessive fluids prior to bedtime.
- Allow your child to have no stimulants within eight hours of bedtime (no cola drinks, tea, coca, chocolates; etc.)
- If your child has troublesome recurrent thoughts disturbing sleep onset; write them down with appropriate plan of action. Encourage them to think about simpler less troubling matters, recite rhymes, or think of songs.
- Accept occasional nights of sleeplessness as being normal.
- Avoid giving your child medications for sleep, especially those which contain alcohol.
[Keywords: sleep disorders]
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