Little sleep: causes and solutions

Young children need 10 to 12 hours of sleep each night to ensure their health and energy for development. However, there are still babies who sleep much less than this

Usually, insomnia is considered to be a symptom that occurs only in adults. However, many children also suffer from insomnia. For example, a child's parents have failed to set a sleep schedule. Children take stimulants and drink alcohol, which makes them lose sleep. Or stay up late to play video games, use the computer, and chat with friends on cell phones. Many children with excessive hyperactivity and / or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) also make it difficult for them to sleep. Some children are simply hyperactive and do not like going to bed when told by an adult.

Parental lifestyles and behavioral attitudes can sometimes cause insomnia in a child. Parents staying up late to listen to loud music, smoking, "binge drinking" and "chilling dishes" with friends can affect the child's rest. Children who have trouble sleeping can also be caused by smoke coming from the parents' use of tobacco, other stimulants. Some parents even set a bad example from their unhealthy lifestyle to their children.

The main treatment for insomnia is conventional medicine. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine - the American Institute of Sleep Therapy, the treatment of insomnia in children is often the prescription of antidepressants. However, giving these medications to a child can cause addiction to the prescribed medications and lead to other addictive behaviors. This can cause a bigger problem than insomnia.

Parents who do not want to take medicine to treat their child's insomnia can take good nutritional and lifestyle changes.

Good nutrition

A lack of the following minerals and vitamins can cause insomnia:

Calcium: has a sedative effect on the body. A calcium deficiency causes restlessness and insomnia

Magnesium: May help induce drowsiness. Lack of magnesium causes stress, preventing sleepiness.

Vitamins B6 and B12: have a calming effect.

Inositol: helps promote sleep.

Children's diets include fast foods, processed foods and snacks. These foods lack the vitamins and minerals needed to "hinder" insomnia. Parents should let their children eat fresh, unprocessed foods, such as fresh products and whole grains that contain essential vitamins and minerals in their diets. Parents also need to consider giving children supplements of minerals and vitamins mentioned above.

Lifestyle changes

In addition to changing the child's diet, parents should also change their child's lifestyle to correct their child's low sleep.

Sleep timer

Parents should schedule children's sleep and force them to obey. 8pm is too early. The required time for children to sleep should be 9:30 pm. It is neither too early nor too late. And the time to wake up should be 6:30 am, that way the baby will sleep for 8 hours. Parents should also go to bed at the same time as their child. This can be a good example for your child and prevent your child from wanting to stay up late.

Extracurricular activities

Parents should limit their child's extracurricular activities during the school year. These activities take up a lot of time that your child could have used for learning and homework. Children participating in more than one extracurricular activity often have to stay up late to do homework, which takes away a lot of time they can sleep. So, if parents find that extracurricular activities interfere with their children's rest time, let them take a break from these extracurricular activities.

Video games and computers

Parents should not let children play games on weekdays during the school year. Once a child begins to play, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to force the child to stop playing. So parents need to make a rule that only let children play games for no more than 2 hours a day on weekends. During the summer break, you can allow your child to play video games on weekends but with a reasonable amount of time.

Children have difficulty sleeping mainly due to excessive gaming.

During the school year, parents should limit the use of the computer to homework only. It is also strictly forbidden to use the computer late at night.

Parents should also not allow their children to play games and use computers in their own rooms, as the temptation to stay up late will be difficult for children to overcome.

Although little sleep symptoms appear early, but always need the necessary supervision from parents will help children adjust to overcome. Parents must feed their children healthy diets, and at the same time supervise and monitor their child's lifestyle to ensure their child has a reasonable rest. If lifestyle changes and diet are not enough to help children "get rid of" insomnia, at this point parents should consult a doctor to treat their child.