Sleep and a Healthy Diet can Improve Your Child's Behaviour
- amyjrayner
- Mar 29, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: May 3, 2023
Why is Sleep Important?
Sleep has been proven to have very positive effects on the human body. When our bodies receive adequate sleep, this improves: behaviour, attention, concentration, learning, memory and overall mental health. Not getting enough sleep can lead to aggression, depression, high blood pressure, anxiety obesity and other implications.
What is the recommended amount of sleep a child should get?
Infants under 1 year: 12-16 hours
Children 1-2 years old: 11-14 hours
Children 3-5 years old: 10-13 hours
Children 6-12 years old: 9-12 hours
Teenagers 13-18 years old: 8-10 hours
Targeting sleep problems is key to ensuring your child is getting the amount of sleep that they need. Sleeping is a skill that needs to be learnt. Children will learn to sleep the way they are taught. If you rock your child to sleep, use white noise or other sleeping aids, your child will rely on these to fall asleep. Establishing a bedtime routine, at roughly the same time every night, is key to teaching children HOW to sleep.
You might:
Dim the lights
Stop use of electronics/screens at least an hour before bed
Limit caffeine/sugar after a certain time
Have a warm bath
Do a quiet family activity such as reading a book
Don't talk to your baby during the night, or limit the amount of talking with your child
Set a wake up time for when the child can leave the room. The child can play quietly until that time if desired.
Do whatever works for you! Every child is different, what may work with one child, may not work with the other. As long as your child is getting the recommended amount of sleep in 24 hrs, that's all that matters! Children who don't get enough sleep, may get cranky and aggressive.
Prevention is better than the cure. Sleep can avoid many unwanted behaviours. My daughter loves her day sleep. She still sleeps for around 2 hrs during the day. If this sleep is skipped for some reason, she usually starts to get frustrated and cranky. She will cry and throw tantrums. I can usually tell from the way she is crying, that she is tired. Ensure that your child is getting the sleep that they need, if for some reason this can't happen, have empathy and understand that they may get cranky because of a skipped sleep.
Diet is also key for improving overall behaviour.
As a teacher, I have seen first hand what an unhealthy diet can do. We always encouraged the students to bring healthy food to school for lunch. I often noticed, children who ate a lot of sugar would show more aggression than children who didn't. They would find it hard to sit still and concentrate on the task at hand. Healthy fruit and vegetables are important for healthy brain development, just as much as sleep is.
Benefits of Healthy Eating
Keeps skin, teeth, and eyes healthy.
Supports muscles.
Helps achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
Strengthens bones.
Supports brain development.
Supports healthy growth.
Boosts immunity.
Helps the digestive system function.
Of course, it may be difficult to watch what our children eat, but we can aim to encourage our children to eat well and to understand the importance of the food we put into our bodies.
Tips and Tricks to get your child eating healthy food
Play a song about the fruit or vegetable they are eating. For example, if my daughter doesn't want to eat green beans, I play an episode from Cocomelon about eating vegetables while she is eating. She then starts to eat the beans because she can see Jay Jay eating beans on the television. I have attached a link below to the video.
Sticker Charts https://myboredtoddler.com/printable-reward-charts/
Plan healthy meals together as a family
Let your child take ownership, get your child to help you with the food preparation
Keep unhealthy food options out of site.
Try aiming for about a handful of fruit and vegetables a day. Try serving them in different ways, keep it interesting! We get tired of eating the same food too, so offer different options regularly for your kids.
Sleep and diet are so crucial to a healthy lifestyle for both you and your children! Diet and nutrition directly impact sleep quality. If you eat well, you sleep better. Both work hand in hand.
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