A busy family needs a good night’s rest, but sometimes it’s hard to find the time to prioritize good sleeping habits. It is imperative that you set your young children, your teenagers, and even yourself up for a lifetime of good sleep. The earlier you can get your children on the right track, the better. However, it is never too late to start sleeping right.
So how do you impress upon your children the importance of a good night’s sleep? You need to lead by example. No matter how hectic your family’s schedule becomes, always take care that you are carving out a good chunk of time each evening that you dedicate to healthy sleeping habits.
Here are 5 ways you can take action to improve the quality of sleep each and every family member gets. With older children, some of these practices may be tricky to implement. Try to start as early as possible. Otherwise, sit them down and impress upon teens (or other ornery kids prone to staying up late) the importance of sleeping enough and sleeping well.
Weighted Blanket
If you have a particularly troublesome sleeper in your family, investing in a weighted blanket might be just the ticket to solving your bedtime woes. Pressured touch is already well established as a means of calming crying babies or anxious dogs. It is why a firm hug from someone we love is so effective at soothing us.
But not any weighted blanket will do. Getting the right weight for each family member’s blanket is important. A weighted blanket should weigh 10% of the user’s weight for the optimal relaxation experience. Anything more might be too heavy and make the user feel smothered, and that is the opposite of what we want!
Family Time Before Bed
The central aim of family time before bed is to limit screen time, though a great side effect is the fact that you are going to spend some quality time together. But after spending all evening with your kids and spouse after work, maybe you just want some peace and quiet.
Family time is just an activity you all do together. It does not need to be super involved or engaging. Sometimes, a board or card game might be what you need. However, oftentimes, listening to music everyone likes or just reading silently in one another’s company is enough to do the trick.
Find an activity that is relaxing and unglues your kid’s eyeballs from their smartphones, tablets, and laptops for a little bit. Blue light emitted by technology is particularly effective as a stimulant, which is the last thing you want to expose your children to before they try and trek off to dreamland.
Give Each Child a Special Routine
Before bed, enlist your children in completing a task or chore around the house each night before they retire to their bedrooms. Maybe it’s taking the trash out, or maybe it’s doing the dishes. It can be as simple as letting the dog out one last time. As soon as it’s completed, your child should be off to sleep.
With time, this task will become associated with sleep in your child’s mind. By the time they actually retire to bed after completing their task, they should be in the right frame of mind to snoozeville.
Reevaluate Your Mattresses
If your family members are complaining about the quality of sleep they are getting, rather than the quantity, consider what they are sleeping on. A bad mattress can ruin the rest of even the hardiest of sleepers. After all, we have come to prefer sleeping on beds to couches for a reason.
That said, it is hard to define what a “bad mattress” even is. Every sleeper is different, and they have different needs their mattress must meet. For example, memory foam is not always appropriate for babies and toddlers, but it is perfect for any sleeper that tends to run hot and needs a breathable surface to sleep on, like the Muse Sleep mattress.
When someone comes to you about a hard time sleeping, drill down to the root causes. Are they comfortable on their bed? Do they toss and turn or wake up with a sore back?
But maybe it’s not the mattress at all. Perhaps there is a streetlight outside that pours through their bedroom window. At the end of the day, keeping lines of communication open is key here.
Aromatherapy
The scientific community has not reached a consensus on the efficacy of aromatherapy. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that essential oils like lavender can help relax an anxious mind and put users into a head space ripe for sleep.
Lavender, cedarwood, vanilla, and bergamot are great scents to try out. Even if they are not effective at putting you to sleep, they will definitely help make your house smell great!