First Educator
Sleep is the key to a healthy lifestyle. While the importance of diet and exercise to our overall health and well-being is widely accepted, we often focus less on the critical role of sleep.
As a society, we pride ourselves on working hard, pulling all-nighters, and saying things like, “We can sleep when we die.” The truth is that sleep affects nearly every primary body system, including our bones, pancreas, skin, brain and muscles.
A healthy diet, regular exercise, and adequate sleep each night are essential and, in fact, directly impact one another. When we eat and exercise better, we sleep better. When we sleep better, we perform better physically and crave healthier foods.
This month’s column explores research, learning tools, and resources from My Very Own Bed. This nonprofit provides children with new beds and Dream Kits (bedding, books, and stuffed animals) throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Many of the families they work with have recently transitioned out of homelessness and have secured more stable housing. This assistance provides essential items to support the families’ housing stability, relieving some of their financial stress and helping make the house feel more like a home.
My Very Own Bed focuses on beds for kids because of sleep’s role in assisting them to heal, grow and thrive. Adequate sleep helps children fight off illness, enhances their growth, improves self-regulation and stress control, and aids their learning.
In each Dream Kit that accompanies a new bed, My Very Own Bed summarizes the benefits of sleep in this way: Sleep helps us
- Stay healthy and strong
- Focus, learn, and remember new things
- Play hard and feel more energetic
- Feel happier and less anxious
- Grow big and strong
- Heal when we are sick
The importance of sleep
Sleep plays a critical role in children’s growth and development. Most growth hormones are released during sleep, and brains sort through information gathered during the day, eliminating the less important details and strengthening and consolidating the most useful. Sleep is also when the body releases infection-fighting proteins.
While recommendations vary by age and other factors, children need a lot of sleep each night, particularly in the first five years when their brain grows more than during the rest of their lives. These are the generally recognized sleep duration recommendations for every 24 hours:
- Infants to 12 months — 12 to 16 hours, including naps
- 1 to 2 years — 11 to 14 hours, including naps
- 3 to 5 years — 10 to 13 hours, including naps
- 6 to 12 years — 9 to 12 hours
- 13 to 18 years — 8 to 10 hours
- Adults, at least 7 hours
Poor sleep contributes to a wide range of negative outcomes. Short-term, a bad night of sleep makes it challenging to focus. While adults tend to be more groggy, children can get wound up or wired, making it hard for them to sit still and focus. Parents often hear about misbehavior at school or observe more fighting or irritability at home.
When we are tired, we also tend to be more sedentary and crave less healthy food, which, in turn, can lead to weight gain and other health complications. Long-term, poor sleep leads to poor physical and mental health. Kids who do not get enough sleep are more at risk for obesity, diabetes, anxiety and depression, and injuries.
A call to action
Promoting healthy sleeping habits is a call to action. It is an opportunity for all caring adults to serve as first educators and support our children as they learn, grow and lead.
A “First Educator” refers to the primary role of parents and caregivers in a person’s early development and education. They instill essential life skills, morals and behaviors.
As a First Educator, if you or your child are not getting enough sleep each night, here are four basic sleep tips My Very Own Bed suggests, which echo those suggested by nearly every sleep expert:
- Set a consistent sleep schedule: Go to bed and wake up simultaneously every day, evenings, weekends, and during the summer months.
- Turn off your electronics (and dim your lights if you can) an hour before going to bed.
- Avoid sugar after dinner (and generally reduce it throughout the day).
- Establish a bedtime routine (brushing your teeth, washing your face, reading, journaling and meditating).
If you are interested in learning more about the importance of building healthy sleeping habits, visit: https://www.myveryownbed.org/.
