PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) -Getting a good night's sleep is essential, but getting that good night's sleep can be difficult if you don’t have the proper bedtime routine. Especially for children.
Teresa Green, Sleep Medicine Specialist for Northern Light AR Gould Hospital, says, “Shutting off the electronics an hour or two before bedtime, creating a more relaxing routine involving reading, story time, music. Make sure the sleep environment is conducive to sleep. You want the child’s bedroom to be dark and quiet, so no tv running in the background and no music going on once they go to sleep. A night light if they need a little bit of light, but you don’t want any bright lights in the sleep, in the sleeping environment. Cool temperatures help as well. Uh, so those things can all help a little bit.
Green recommends if a child needs noise to sleep, use white noise. White noise will supply background noise without disrupting sleep. It is also recommended, if at all possible, not to have electronic devices in the bedroom to help remove the temptation to use them. Green adds that things to watch for with your child’s sleep that might mean something more serious is going on.
Green says, “If a child has some other symptoms like they wake up often at night. Um, they are snoring, or you witness them having difficulty breathing, um they’re restlessness, restless and their bed is all torn, torn apart in the morning. That’s a sign that there may be something going on with their sleep that’s keeping them from sleeping well. Um, those would be some of the red flags that would prompt me to encourage a parent to bring that issue up with a pediatrician.”
Green recommends helping your children understand sleep's vital role in their growth and development. If your child is having issues with sleep, it’s essential to reach out to your pediatrician.
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