Proper Rest, Adequate Sleep, Promotes Learning Fine & Deep

I’m sure that as parents, you believe that the longer your child studies, the more they learn. But the truth is, there’s no correlation between the number of hours spent studying and the amount of learning that is done. In fact, your child needs proper rest and sleep for better learning.

How Much Sleep Does Your Child Need?

Like the body, the brain too needs rest. The new information acquired during studying releases various types of neurotransmitters that the brain needs to shuffle and organize. For this process to happen, the brain needs to take a break. Only with proper rest can the brain stock up on and create fresh supplies of neurotransmitters to store more new information. Now, how do we know how much sleep is needed? Different aged children need different amount of sleep. Here’s a quick chart for your reference:

• 12-month olds - 14.5 hours of sleep

• 2-year-olds - 13 hours

• 5-year-olds - 11 hours

• 10-year-olds - 10 hours

• 16-year-olds - 8.5 hours

Tips to Help Your Child Sleep Better:

Effortless as it sounds, falling asleep and getting sound sleep isn’t always easy. So many times we’ve seen children feeling extremely sleepy while they’re studying, but the moment they climb into their bed, they are wide awake and ready to play. Sounds familiar? Here are a few tips you can use to ensure your child gets his quota of undisturbed deep sleep

• Don’t let them watch TV two hours before bed time. The the light emitted from the screen inhibits melatonin, the hormone that makes them sleepy.

• For the same reason, a dark room is imperative for sound sleep as it regulates melatonin.

• It is easier for children to fall asleep if their body is used to a certain schedule. That’s why you should have a regular sleeping schedule for your kids.

• It is very important to be comfortable while sleeping. Make sure they wear loose, comfortable clothes that doesn’t restrict their movement.

• Routines, like taking a warm bath, reading or listening to soothing music before going to bed, are also helpful since it helps the body and mind unwind, allowing for better sleep.

• Make sure that their afternoon naps don’t last longer than 20 minutes or the child will enter deep sleep. If woken shortly after entering deep sleep, they will feel groggy and unable to study.

Do not undermine the importance of proper sleep and never make the mistake of compromising on the quality of sleep their child enjoys. When they grow up, they’ll have plenty of occasions to burn the midnight oil. But right now, as their brains develops, they need adequate rest so that they can wake up the next morning and conquer the world!