How Can I Cultivate Healthy Sleep Habits in My Child?
There are several ways that parents can play a role in cultivating healthy sleep habits in their kids.
The biggest factor is to treat sleep as a priority and protect the sleep of the entire family.
It is smart to have a pretty stable sleep schedule for your kids and to minimize variance from that schedule.
Try to allow for variance no more than once per week so that there is an ongoing sense that this is protected time.
It is best to arrange activities within your family’s schedule so that there won’t be a major conflict with that schedule.
Obviously, their value of sleep will be developed in the way that we model sleep, so it also matters to have a similar schedule for yourself.
It can be really helpful to think about how you talk about sleep within your house.
I often will discuss the effect that lack of sleep has on my kids’ moods and reinforce the need to care well for their brains and their bodies.
Watch other videos in our Psych in 60 series to learn more about sleep and leave your questions in the comments below!
