As we all know everyone needs sleep, whether you are a newborn baby, a toddler or a fully grown adult. We are going to look at what factors contribute to how well your toddler sleeps and the ramifications of not sleeping well.
Not getting enough sleep is a big problem for the body and mind as we all know: after all sleep deprivation has been used as a form of torture. Unless your toddler still isn’t sleeping it is hard for you to imagine what sleep deprivation is like. Not enough sleep can cause the following issues:
1. Depression
2. Anger problems
3. Mood swings
4. Fatigue
5. Irritability
6. Difficulty concentrating
7. Slower reaction times
8. Increased stress levels
So as you can see from the list above Healthy Sleep is very important. Healthy Sleep helps promote the following:
1. Social and Academic performance
2. Hand eye coordination
3. Cognitive development
4. Personality
5. Normal Stress hormones
6. Glucose control which is a factor in diabetes and obesity.
Sleep is the body’s power source that keeps your toddler’s mind alert and calm, every night and at every nap sleep recharges the brain’s ability to do these things. Providing your toddler’s growing brain with quality sleep is necessary for his development and social well being. Sleeping well increases brain power just as weight lifting strengthens the muscles. Providing the sleep your toddler needs will make him more relaxed and mentally alert, he will be at his personal best.
How to get your toddler the sleep he needs:
1. Provide boundaries
2. How you react to his night wakings
3. Routine
1. The importance of boundaries
I believe that boundaries are the foundation for raising a happy, content and well mannered toddler, and in return a happy and well mannered adult. Toddlers with clear boundaries always feel safe and secure. Children see the world as a large, unpredictable and sometimes overwhelming place and by giving them boundaries is the key to making their world a more predictable and secure place in their eyes.
2. How you react to your toddlers night wakings.
Quite often parents are awoken at 5am by their toddler and they think that it is morning, so the parents get up with the toddler at this early morning wake up. They often think that the child has had enough sleep when in fact the child is still tired. They then have an irritable and unmanageable toddler all day long; the only way to get out of this habit is to allow your child to resettle himself back to sleep, whether it is 3am or 5am. Parents are often unsure about this suggestion as it may take several hours, which it may on the first couple of nights initially, but you have to be strong and stick it out longer than your toddler will.
3. Routines
Having a routine is one of the most important factors in setting boundaries. If a toddler has a routine he feels safe and secure: he will know what is going to happen and when. A child with a routine will not be overtired and will also be a pleasure to be around. Some parents don’t like the idea of a routine, they are afraid they will have to be a clock watcher and stay at home in order for a routine to work, but this is not the case. Having a routine will make your life more flexible because you and your toddler will know when and at what time things are going to happen and in what order. So you can go out and arrange play dates and music classes etc with ease.
So now you have some tools go ahead and get those precious zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz’z.
