You can think of healthy sleep habits like other good habits in life. Insomnia We teach our children at a young age to follow healthy habits so that they will become part of their daily or evening routines. For example, we may teach our children the habit of brushing their teeth every morning and evening, providing them own toothbrush and toothpaste, placing this in a designated place near the bathroom sink, and establishing a regular time for brushing. Children quickly learn these habits and follow a routine. After a while, there’s no need to talk about the habit; it just gets done., Well, most of the time…

Good sleep hygiene is similar to good dental hygiene. There are habits you need to teach your children so they become routine. Even adults who have sleep problems could start by reviewing these healthy habits to see what they can improve in their own sleep hygiene or sleep health. You may be better prepared to help your child if you do so.

Vivian’s parents brought her to our office because she is always complaining of being tired, and in the last school term, her report card average dropped from a B to a C. Vivian is a 13-year-old girl with trouble settling to sleep at night due to problematic sleep habits. In her house, there is no routine or schedule. The family practices a relaxed, unstructured lifestyle. There are no rules about sleeping and waking.

When it comes to bedtime, Vivian goes to bed when she is tired. This can range from 9:00 p.m. to staying up as late as midnight. She gets to school each morning, but it’s a big struggle. Often she misses breakfast, rushing to get to school on time. She always seems to be tired, even when she tries to catch up on her sleep on the weekends by sleeping until noon. Her parents asked us if we could help.

First, we helped her parents to identify Vivian’s bad sleeping habits, and then we choose one habit at a time to change. We recommended establishing a bedtime routine. This could involve Vivian reading quietly in her bedroom for 30 minutes every night. At Vivian’s age (13 years), she needs between 8.5 and 9.5 hours of sleep. If she has to wake up for school at 7:00 a.m., then she should be asleep between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. They could start by setting her bedtime routine at 9:30 and lights out at 10:00, so that she can fall asleep by 10:30. After a week of this schedule, Vivian’s bedtime routine could be moved 30 minutes earlier to 9:00 with lights out at 9:30, so that she is consistently falling asleep by 10:00 p.m.

Vivian’s reward for cooperating with this new schedule should be something that she likes to do, rather than money or gifts. For a younger child, a reward could be a sticker chart, and if enough stickers are gained, a reward of special time with parents, a special activity, or time on the computer. For an older child or teenager, the reward could be similar, but chosen by the child/teenager and parents together, such as a movie night with friends. If Vivian does not cooperate, the consequences would be the removal of a privilege, such as computer time or a desired social outing or activity.

Using rewards and consequences, Vivian’s parents gradually changed each problematic behavior and they were able to develop a regular routine and schedule for sleep and wake. Vivian is no longer overly tired during the day and her academic performance has improved.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 20th, 2010 at 11:13 am and is filed under Insomnia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.