Sandman Staying Away From Your School Age Child? 3 Tips To Get Him To Come Back

If the sandman is no longer visiting your child at night, and they are not getting enough sleep, this can affect your child in many ways, including causing them to do badly in school. According to the National Sleep Foundation, a school age child should get 9 to 11 hours of sleep per night. Below are some tips on how to get the sandman to come back to your child's room again so they can feel much better.

Reduce Light

If your child watches television, or sits in front of a laptop or computer monitor, this can interfere with the production of melatonin, which is a hormone that helps with the sleep wake cycles. This hormone is at its highest when your child is sleepy and ready to go to bed. If they do not go to bed when they start to get sleep, but instead watch TV or play on a computer, then they may not get sleepy again for a couple of hours. The next time your child turns to their computer or television at night, make them turn them off and watch them fall asleep faster, and stay asleep throughout the night.

Watch Out for Stress

An hour or so before bedtime, keep your child's activities calm and the lights dim. Keep your house as quiet as you can. You could sit down and read a book together, or simply sit down and talk. Play a game of cards or a board game. When your child is stressed out, their body has a hard time shutting down and falling asleep. Stress also causes their cortisol levels rise, and cortisol is known as the stress hormone.

Try Natural Remedies

There is currently no medication on the market to help children sleep. For this reason, some pediatricians suggest giving children an antihistamine. If you do not want to give your child any kind of medication, you can try some natural sleep remedies instead.

Some herbs that have been known to help with sleep problems are passion flower, hops, chamomile, and St. John's wort. Valerian is an herb that is known to help people fall asleep quicker. You can find these herbs at most health food stores. You should talk to your doctor before giving these herbs to your child, however. The doctor can also tell you the right dose to give them.

If your child still has problems falling asleep, take them to the doctor first to rule out anything that may be wrong. If there is nothing found, you may want to consider a child psychologist if you think your child could possibly be having a psychological problem, such as after a death or divorce. Visit sleep aid providers, such as TeddyMD LLC, for more tips.