What is Sleep?

Everyone wants more sleep. Yet it’s still so elusive. While it’s not fun to always feel tired and yawn, not getting enough sleep can greatly affect your health. Experts say that you should try to sleep between 7 and 8 hours each night, but what does that do for you?

Sleep is a state of body and mind that happens naturally. It is marked by less interaction with the environment, a change in consciousness, less muscle activity, less sensory activity, and the shutting down of almost all voluntary muscles during rapid eye movement (REM). 

It’s different from being awake because you can’t respond as quickly to things. But it’s more responsive than a disorder of consciousness or a coma, with different, active brain patterns.

Non-REM sleep and REM sleep are two different types of sleep that the body cycles between during sleep. Even though “REM” stands for “rapid eye movement,” this type of sleep has a lot of other effects, such as making the body almost immobile.

This article reveals all there is to know about sleep and why sleep is very important for your children.

Why Is It Important for Children to Get a Good Night’s Sleep?

Sleep is an important part of everyone’s daily routine and a must-have for a healthy way of life. Studies have revealed that kids who get enough sleep every night have better learning abilities, attention, memory, mental health, physical health, and behavior in general. 

Not getting enough sleep can raise your blood pressure, make you feel sad, and even make you fat.

How Much Sleep Should a Child Get?

It solely depends on how old your child is. The following is what the US Academy of Pediatrics suggests:

• Babies younger than one year: 12–16 hours
• Children ages 1 to 2: 11 to 14 hours
• Children ages 2.5 to 5.5: 10 to 13 hours
• Children ages 5.5 to 12.5: 9 to 12 hours
• 13–18-year-old teens: 8–10 hours

Some children find it hard to fall asleep, and others find it hard to stay asleep. What then should a parent do to help their children get the right amount of sleep?

Setting up a regular routine for going to bed is important. Every night, the routine should start at the same time, if possible. Start to “wind down” the house as soon as the sun goes down. Here are a few tips for winding down:

• Lessen the light
• At least an hour before bed, stop using electronics and screens.
• Limit caffeine intake
• Give your child a hot bath
• Do something quiet with your family, like read a short book
• If your kid often wakes up in the middle of the night, quietly walk them back to their room
• Set a time when the child can leave his or her room after getting up. If the child wants to, he or she can play quietly until then

What Should Parents Do if None of These Things Work? 

If none of the above-listed tips do not work for your child, go for sleeping tabs, but not before discussing them with your healthcare provider. Of course, there might be medicines to try.

If you think your child’s behavior problems at school might be caused by not getting enough sleep, you should take him or her to the pediatrician. We do not advise you to give your child “sleep medications” without first talking to your doctor because many of these aren’t safe for kids.

That said, let’s look at the health benefits of sleep. It is important to note that these benefits are for adults as they are for your children.

Health Benefits of Sleep

Getting Enough Sleep Prevents Weight Gain

Getting eight hours of sleep won’t make you lose weight on its own, but it can help keep your body from putting on weight. If you most often than none don’t get enough sleep, your body makes a hormone called ghrelin, which makes you hungry. 

Your body also makes less of the hormone leptin, which tells you when you’re full. Putting them together is a dangerous way to snack late at night. Also, when you don’t get enough sleep, your stress level goes up, and you don’t have the energy to fight off cravings for junk food. 

Just thinking about all that should leave you very exhausted and weak.

Better Sleep = Better Mood

The old saying, “Getting up on the right side of the bed,” is mostly true. Sleep can make you feel better even if you wake up on the wrong side of the bed. And it does make sense. If you sleep well, you wake up feeling rested. 

Being rested helps your energy levels soar. When you have a lot of energy, life’s little problems don’t bother you as much. When you aren’t annoyed, you don’t get as mad. You’re happy if you’re not mad. So, go to bed early, and everyone will appreciate it.

It’s Dangerous Not Getting Enough Sleep

A study for Traffic Safety found that if you only get five to six hours of sleep, you’re twice as likely to get into a car accident as if you got seven to nine hours of sleep. 

If you sleep less than five hours, you’re four times more likely to crash. This is because you react much more slowly when your brain isn’t fully rested. We don’t know about you, but those numbers make us want to get into our pajamas and go to bed as soon as possible.

Sleep Helps You Remember

Even though your body gets the rest it needs when you sleep, your mind is still hard at work. It’s actually sorting through and putting together the things you remember from the day. 

Who knows where your memories go if you don’t get enough sleep? Or, even worse, your mind could make up false memories.

Sleep Can Boost Your Immune System

Your immune proteins and cells receive the rest they require to combat anything that comes their way, such as a cold or the flu, when you get adequate sleep. 

Sleep experts at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine say that getting enough sleep can also make vaccines work better, which is a good thing.

Sleep Makes Your Heart Stronger

If you don’t get enough sleep, you could have problems with your heart, like a heart attack or high blood pressure. 

Because when you don’t get enough sleep, your body releases cortisol, a stress hormone that makes your heart work harder. Like your immune system, your heart deserves rest to work well and powerfully. 

Obviously, another reason to sleep your heart out. So, get to it immediately.

Sleeping Makes People More Productive

You might think you impress your boss by staying up late, but putting off getting a good night’s sleep could hurt you at work or school. In fact, sleep has been linked to a better ability to focus and think, both of which can help you do well at work. 

But one bad night’s sleep can make you feel frazzled and more likely to make mistakes that a pot of coffee can’t fix. When it comes to coffee, the more tired you are in the afternoon, the more likely you are to grab a cup. Even though that might make you feel better in the afternoon, the extra caffeine late in the day could make it hard for you to sleep again. Talk about a cycle that doesn’t work.

Sleep Can Make You Work Out Better

Someone looked into what happens when basketball players don’t get enough sleep and guess what they found? They weren’t very good at basketball when they didn’t get enough sleep. (Uhh) You may be thinking, “So what? In my dreams, I’m MVP.” 

Well, sleep affects how well you do at all kinds of exercise. Under-the-blankets recovery helps with hand-eye coordination, reaction time, and muscle recovery. Also, not getting the quality sleep you deserve can make you weaker and less powerful.

Conclusion

Sleep is good and very important. A sleep expert who specializes in sleep medicine confirms what we already know about the benefits of sleep by pointing to research that shows people who get less sleep have a higher BMI, tend to eat more, get to be heavier, and are more likely to develop diabetes. 

Your child should have nine to thirteen hours of sleep, depending on age. On the other hand, adults are advised to get at least seven hours of sleep per night to operate during the day. This includes staying on target, staying alert throughout the day, focusing, and not being so irritable and exhausted.

Even if your sleeping patterns alter from time to time, we hope this is enough to persuade you to aim for seven to nine hours of sleep per night so that your mind and body can reap the full advantages.

Tip to Sleep Better

Need help keeping track of the sheep? Set up a nighttime routine to help your body and mind wind down. You could even try meditating or yoga. One more thing, stop stealing glances at your tablet or phone. Those social media alerts will still be there in the morning. Sweet dreams!