Are Children Getting Enough Good Sleep?

It seems the further we stray from our natural environment and let society dictate our habits, the more health problems we encounter.

Something as simple as the invention of the light bulb has dramatically altered our environment, allowing us to not be guided by nature as to our sleeping routines, but by the rat race in which we have chosen to take part.

We are not satisfied losing sleep as adults, but force this ugly and unhealthy habit on our children. Adding night lights to our sports fields gives us one more way to cut into our children’s sleep; and then throw in excessive homework to be done after practice. To add further injury, add a very late dinner associated with no bedtime routine to make sure what sleep the kids get is poor at best.

A 2006 Harvard Medical School Publication came up with the following reasons for getting enough sleep:

1. Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. People who slept after a learning task did better on tests.
2. Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
3. Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during daytime resulting in mistakes and accidents as well as unhappy teachers.
4. Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness.
5. Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels and irregular heartbeat.
6. Disease:  Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also fight cancer.

How much sleep do you really need?  The National Sleep Foundation recently recommended the following:

Newborns (0-2 months)                      12 to 18 hours

• Infants (3 to 11 months)                       14 to 15 hours
• Toddlers (1 to 3 years)                        12 to 14 hours
• Preschoolers (3 to 5 years)                  11 to 13 hours
• School age (5 to 10 years)                   10 to 11 hours
• Teens  (10 to 17 years)                        8.5 to  9.25 hours
• Adults                         `                       7 to 9 hours

In children under ten, an evening routine that is very conducive to quality sleep includes a regular meal time with calmer activities and relaxation. Bath time, tooth brushing and story telling are all good. Frightening TV and video games reverse the desired state.

Being sure that your child is not a mouth breather will not only enhance the quality of the sleep, but may help prevent orthodontic problems. Mouth breathing is a major cause of the narrowing of the upper arch with the resulting crowding and blocking out of our canines.

Large tonsils and adenoids are usual suspects in this case. Sometimes merely eliminated dairy or gluten from the diet will take this problem away. Your family doctor should be well aware of the importance of enough good sleep. Ultimately, it is the parent who routinely checks the child’s sleep and demands something be done about problems found. Most of the children in my sleep practice have been brought in by their parents

Unless you are an extreme exception, we are all guilty of improper time management, having to stay up late to make up for it. Then the vicious cycle begins. You start to make mistakes and use bad judgment at work or school and you find you have to make up for them by working late again. This can become a habit which is not only destructive to your goals, but to the quality of life and ultimately your health and good nature.

You just can’t get away from it. Balancing your life is the answer, not only for your health and happiness, but to act as the proper model for your children to follow. Kids learn more from osmosis than opinion. It’s not what you say; it’s what you do that really makes a difference, right down to what we eat and drink and the part we take in creating our own happiness.

Robert Brown, DDS has a TMJ, orthodontia, and sleep apnea practice in Danville and thoroughly enjoys discussing holistic medicine. You can contact him at 925-837-8048, at info@aodtc.com, or visit his web site at www.aodtc.com.