Restful Nights, Happy Days: The Positive Effects Of Sleep In Children

The Evolution of Sleep

Sleep has always been, and will likely continue to be, a bit of a mystery. From an evolutionary standpoint, it seems like something that we should have abandoned a few hundred thousand years ago.

The fact that we fall into a nearly unconscious state for a third of our day, every day, leaving us vulnerable to whatever horrifying dangers we faced in the early days of civilization, makes me wonder how we ever made it this far as a species.

Evolution tells us that sleep is a must have despite the dangers of our lives in the early days!

Sleep deprivation in you and your children can be detrimental to your child and yourself.

But it just goes to show you that whatever sleep does for us, it’s obviously vital to our health and wellbeing. If it wasn’t, those individuals who needed less sleep would have risen to the top of the gene pool a long, long time ago, and those who thrived on a lot of sleep would have been, well, eaten probably. Man, I’m glad I was born in this day and age. Being eaten would suck. As of yet, the scientific community hasn’t been able to tell us exactly why we sleep, but there is definitely a consensus among researchers that adequate sleep is good for you in a whole bunch of ways.

Learning

We’re all familiar with the fact that we have a hard time focusing on information when we’re running on too little sleep. Absorbing information is only half the battle though. Actually, if you really want to get technical, it’s only a third. Learning and memory are divided into three functions.

Acquisition, consolidation, and recall. Put simply, you need to receive the info, then you need to stabilize the memory of it, and finally, you need to be able to access it even when you’re watching your favourite TV show. Acquisition and recall really only take place while you’re awake. Consolidation, on the other hand, “takes place during sleep through the strengthening of the neural connections that form our memories. The overall evidence suggests that adequate sleep each day is very important for learning and memory.”

So, the first and most important enrichment you should be providing your little one can be easily done at home for 12 hours a night through sleep. No need for gymnastics or soccer just yet. Sleep is far more important than other enrichments. So even if you manage to focus on what you’re learning and acquire the information, without sleep, that information won’t be properly stored in the brain, and when called upon to access it, you’ll find yourself drawing a blank making that face. You know the one your husband gets when you ask him to communicate his needs more often? That one.

Now, I’m a firm believer that learning and education should be a lifelong pursuit, but once we’re out of school, learning becomes substantially more optional. For your kids though, learning is their primary responsibility for the first 18-20 years of their lives, so considering how much they need to retain, the importance of a healthy sleep schedule is hard to overstate.

Mood

We all know that when we don’t get enough sleep, we get short-tempered and irritable. A study from the University of Pennsylvania showed that subjects who experienced even partial sleep deprivation reported feelings of stress, anger, sadness, and mental exhaustion.

This isn’t exactly new information. We’re all aware that we get emotional in very negative ways when we’re running on too little sleep, but why? Why shouldn’t it have similar effects to say, a few glasses of wine? Why doesn’t sleep deprivation cause us to start telling people we love them or develop an overconfidence in our karaoke abilities?

If you would never starve your child from food, you should never deprive your child from sleep. It is a form of starvation.

Researchers have suggested that sleep deprivation stimulates activity in the amygdala. That’s the little almond-shaped part of the brain that’s responsible for feelings of, among other things, anger, and fear. These amped-up feelings can lead to an overall sense of stress and hostility towards others, which is probably at least part of the reason why you lost it at your child, spouse, helper, or anyone you feel fairly comfortable with.

The ideal number of hours of sleep for children below 12 is between 10 to 12 hours of sleep. I kid you not!

Do you have a child with a lot of tantrums? Ask yourself this first, “Is my child getting,
quality and quantity of sleep?” Sleep can thoroughly help your child, build emotional resilience (less tantrums) and increase patience and tolerance all because their BASIC human needs have been met. Sleep is more important than you think it is.

Sickness

Let’s talk sickness. Do you hate it or do you HATE it when your child gets sick? Would you be surprised
if I told you that, sleep helps build immunity and your child will have a much lower tendency to fall sick
even in preschool IF your child gets the optimum quantity and quality of sleep per day?

“Sleep services all aspects of our body in one way or another: molecular, energy balance, as well as intellectual function, alertness, and mood,” says Dr.Merrill Mitler, a sleep expert and neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health.

Sleeping 10 to 12 hours through the night uninterrupted boost your child’s immunity level through many folds. It truly is a magical aid, every child deserves.

Sleep is your child’s best medicine when ill, it’s the unsung hero directing resources towards healing, aiding a quicker recovery for your little one. It’s like having a dedicated guardian that strengthens their defenses against illnesses. Just as we cherish memories, good sleep helps build the immune system’s memory bank.

This means that when your child faces a familiar bug, their immune system is well-prepared for a quick and effective response. Think of sleep as the ‘conductor’ orchestrating harmony within your child’s immune system.

Sleep is your first step towards living a happier and more fulfilling life as a family unit. It is your STABILIZER.

A well-rested night ensures that all the components work together smoothly, promoting overall immune health and robust defenses against illnesses. So, even if your child falls sick, recovery is speedy and less of a struggle and torture for your child and for you as the caregiver.

Parental Myth

Parenting means you sacrifice your life for the sake of your children, this includes sleep and your other personal needs as an individual and spouse. Your new role in life is a ‘parent’ and nothing else matters. I disagree. This is, in my mind, the most problematic myth about parenthood, and one that needs to be put out to pasture.

You united as a couple to build the family you have today. Your child should not be the reason you drift apart.

Here’s the thing; your child needs sleep even more than you do. Those little bodies may look like they’re idle when they sleep, but there’s an absolute frenzy of work going on behind the scenes.

Growth hormones are being secreted to help baby gain weight and sprout up, cytokines are being produced to fight off infections and produce antibodies, and all kinds of miraculous, intricate systems are at work laying the foundation for your child’s growth and development, and they’ll continue to do so through adolescence, provided they’re given the opportunity to do so. Nature does the heavy lifting. All that’s required of your little one is to close their eyes and sleep.

Self love, solo time, time away from your family as a parent is crucial in maintaining your long term family stability and sanity.

Early parenting being my field of expertise, I see a LOT of people telling new parents that babies and children just don’t sleep well and that they should expect their little ones to be waking them up seven or eight times a night. Life with kids is a sacrifice, you will never feel like yourself again, go on that long long-awaited girls’ trip, or go away with your spouse until your kids turn 20. Wrong!

Final Thoughts

If you have been given horrible advice about parenting. Please remember this, those people have absolutely NO idea what they are talking about, OK? Their advice isn’t just wrong, it’s harmful.

Telling you to accept their child’s sleep issues as a part of the parenting experience is preventing you from addressing the problem, and that’s a serious concern for everybody in the family. Not because you are selfish and enjoy sleeping late. It’s because you, and even more so, your kids, need adequate sleep for all of the reasons I’ve listed above. And if your baby is waking up 7 or 8 times a night or even once a night and crying until you come into the room and rock them back to sleep, that’s not parenthood-as-usual.

That’s a child who has trouble sleeping, and it’s interfering with their body’s natural development. It’s no different than an ear infection or jaundice. It’s a health issue and it has a remedy, so anyone telling you to grin and bear it for the next six years is peddling terrible advice. I’m sure it’s not done maliciously, but it still needs to stop.

Accepting inadequate sleep- in young children leads to accepting it in adolescence, and eventually you end up with grown adults who don’t give sleep the priority it requires, and all of those serious health issues follow along with it. Early intervention is the way to go.

Don’t accept the idea of sleep as a luxury that you’re going to have to learn to live without for a few years. If your child is not sleeping, address it. It’s not selfish, it’s not unrealistic, it’s necessary, and the benefits are holistically prolific.

Stop surviving, let’s THRIVE

Sleep isn’t just a necessity; it’s the gateway to a profoundly fulfilling and joyful life with your young family. With my own experiences as an Early Parenting Coach and a mother of two young ones, I deeply understand the challenges and uncertainties that can shake your journey, making it feel like it’s an upward push.

It’s natural to question the purpose amidst the struggles of parenthood. But here’s the promising truth: early parenting can indeed be a joyful ride when you focus on two crucial elements: your child’s sleep (Pediatric Sleep) and nurturing your energy and mindset around parenting while fulfilling your personal needs (Mental Health).

Conquering these aspects unlocks a life where parenthood feels like a delightful stroll in the park, getting you out of Jurassic Park (I mean it) :). This discovery, born from my own struggles, has been nothing short of transformative. And the best part? It’s far more achievable than you may realize!

Never forget that, the happier and more stable and balanced you are as a parent, the happier your children, your spouse, your household. Never take your wellbeing for granted. YOU matter as much as your children do too. Fill your cup for the best ever ripple effect through your home.

If you found this article helpful and perhaps inspirational and you are now READY to prioritize what is IMPORTANT in your family, you are one click away from your early parenting transformation, click here to get in touch!

Feel free to visit my website for more information sharanyav.com.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article.