Get Your Kids to Trade in Screen Time for Sleep

If you’re worried about how much screen time versus dream time your kids are getting, you’re not alone. But for your kids’ well-being, it’s time to reign in the connectivity: Recent studies have found that teens who sacrifice sleep time for screen time are at a greater risk for sleep disorders, mood swings and depression – not to mention a less-than-stellar performance at school due to shortened attention spans.

So why do your digitally savvy kids value their connectivity so much? Think of your own exciting, enlightening and entertaining exchanges once experienced in drive-in movie theaters of your youth. The relationships your kids forge on social media platforms now resonate on that same kind of emotional level.

However, that doesn’t mean that your kids should forfeit healthy cognitive function for a midnight marathon of “Halo 3.” Here are five ways to help them find a better balance:

No. 1: Check your cell phone bills.

Find out what time your kids are calling, texting and receiving messages or calls from friends. Once you have a clear idea of what’s happening post-bedtime, you’ll know how to address the issue and what kind of boundary to set.

No. 2: Help them make the connection between screen time and health.

Ask your kids about their online and mobile device habits. Have they noticed any negative effects from staying up late to surf the Web or IM their friends? How often do they wake up in the middle of the night because someone called or texted them? The point here isn’t to bust them, but to teach them to make the right choices by helping them identify how certain aspects of their mental and physical well-being have been compromised by their screen time habits.

No. 3: Create a technology curfew.

If you can’t trust them not to indulge in their devices after your curfew, have your kids hand over their devices every night at a pre-appointed time. Will you be hit with a deluge of groaning, punctuated by melodramatic door-slams? Probably. But at some point, you have to set boundaries to help them get the benefits of regular, uninterrupted sleep. Another option is to contact your carrier to turn off texting and phone service during certain hours. This way, you don’t have to play phone police all night, and their phone can stay in their possession.

No. 4: Give your rules a healthy context.

This isn’t about enforcing rules and restricting digital activity so much as it’s about keeping your kids healthy. Let them know that you know how valuable their devices are to them, but that we all need to learn to strike a balance. So instead of saying things like “No computer after 9 p.m.” or “Gaming is not allowed after bedtime,” try setting a positive tone to the boundaries. Focus on what privileges they do have. Say “You can use your computer from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and your cell phone until dinnertime” or “Once homework is finished, games can be played until bedtime.”

No. 5: Be a role model.

Make sure you’re not always on Web devices too, especially when your kids need your attention or when it’s family time. If you’re arguing that, for the sake of their health, your children don’t need to be open for 24/7 interaction with the outside world, then maybe you don’t need to be either?

Tips on How to Get a Baby to Sleep through the Night

I want to start off by saying all babies are different so my suggestions may not work as easily for your baby than another baby. My baby is now 1 month old and he is not sleeping more than 2 hours at a time at night. In the beginning I was blaming it on the fact that he just had his nights and days mixed up, but now I am beginning to wonder. He is quite collicky and doing a lot of spitting up. My first child had acid reflux as a baby (it was horrible) and I am praying that this is not the case now.

But as your baby gets older and they get on a better sleeping and eating schedule, there are some things might help them become better sleepers. With my first 2, they were sleeping through the night by 5 months old. All of my friends were amazed because they had little ones still getting up at night at 2 years old. I have to say that a baby should most definitely be sleeping through the night by 9 months to a year old. And if they aren’t then you might just be giving in to them too easily.

Well, let me go into my list of things you can do to get your baby to sleep through the night and I will go into more detail about everything.

• Be Consistent – It is very important to introduce consistency early on. Getting baby on a schedule is great. You can even do this when you baby is a newborn. One thing that I try to do is go to bed at the same time every night. I try to keep track of the feeding times. You will see that they will wind up getting up at the same time each night to be fed. Both babies and children need consistency in their lives. They will be much more well rounded as they grow up. I have always had my children on a schedule and now with my 2 older ones (4 & 5 yrs old) they know what to do no matter what time of day. In the morning, they know that they eat breakfast at 7:30am after I have fed the baby. They know that after breakfast they have to wash their hands, get dressed, and brush their teeth. I make sure we do the same thing in the same order because then they pick it up much easier. Even my 1 yr old knows his naptime and right when he wakes up from his nap, he runs to the kitchen because he knows that it is then lunch time.

A few things that you can do to create a night time routine of consistency is:

• Keep Bedroom Dark – This is a great tip if your baby is having a hard time getting adjusted to night and day. Even if they are in the bedroom with you, you can still create an atmosphere of calm. And when you get up for all those late night feedings, don’t turn the TV on.
• Bedtime Bath – Giving your baby a bath right before bed is a great way to calm them as well as get their energy out. You will see that they actually sleep longer once you put them to bed after a bath.
• Add Cereal to Nightime Bottle – You can do this once your baby hits the 3 month mark. The cereal helps their belly to be full for longer so they sleep longer.
• White Noise – I have a Sleepmate in our bedroom running at night. It is a small machine that creates white noise (a fan type sound). I turn it on right before bed. They say that this can help your baby sleep better.
• Keep Bedroom Cool – When a room is hot, it is much harder for a baby to be comfortable. When it is cool they can get warm & comfy being swaddled or under their blanket.
• Use a Humidifier – This is especially important during the cold months when you use the heat. Dry air is not good for a baby to breath while they are sleeping. They need moisture and a humidifer helps to put the moisture back in the air that the heat takes out.

So, that is the first step, getting on a schedule and being consistent. The next step is:

• Put Your Foot Down – A lot of new moms have a hard time not giving in to their baby, especially when they cry. Once you know that your baby has been fed enough and they are still getting up to be fed, you really have to work at breaking their habit. Getting up at night to eat becomes a habit because they are doing it for so long. Once they pass 6 months and are eating solid foods, then you know that they can probably survive without eating every few hours like they did when they were small babies. But, be warned, they will cry and if they are older, they will throw a tantrum. It can be heart wrenching to listen to them cry that first night that you deny them their feeding. It usually take about a week and they will finally be broken of that habit.

  Many moms don’t follow through and then they complain that their baby doesn’t sleep well at 1 or 2 years old. But it is their own fault for giving in and not breaking the habit.

  You can start the process by giving them water at one of the feedings instead of their milk. That was something I did as well.

• Get the Baby out of Your Bed – I have to be honest with you, I was always against keeping a baby in your bed especially if you share it with a spouse. I never had my first 2 in my bed, but once baby #3 came along, I wound up kicking my husband out and keeping the baby with me in bed. It was just so much easier for me to feed the baby and do what I needed to do. I was plain exhausted, so I did what worked for me at the time. And even now with baby #4, he is also in bed with me and my husband has been sleeping in another room. So, I am all for making things as easy as possible so that you get more sleep in the long run.

  But long term, having a baby in your bed can actually cause them to get up more and breaking that habit will be harder as they get older. Even having the baby in a bassinet will be better because they will sleep more soundly.

These are just a few things that I have done as a mom that have helped my children become great sleepers as early as 5 months old. Again, every baby is different. You will have to do what is best for you and your baby, but just know that you do have the power to help them break the habit of getting up at night.

And if you are like me, and have a newborn baby – then we are in it for the long haul.      You cannot NOT feed a small baby, especially if they are eating only milk.

I hope these tips have helped you. Do any of you moms have any tips to share on how to get a baby to sleep through the night? Be sure to leave your comment below.

easidream

Hello, I’m Lynda, mum to six lovable and lively children and inventor of easidream®

When my sixth child, Bradley was born, he cried constantly and it was a nightly struggle to settle him to sleep…a struggle that went on until he was two and a half years old! I tried everything to soothe him off to sleep, but I discovered that the most reliable way was to lean over the cot sides and create a ‘rocking cot’ motion by moving the mattress up and down. Having scoured shops and the internet for any product that would replicate this movement (and relieve my backache!), I realised that there was nothing suitable out there, so I went on to take the ‘massive step’ of developing a product of my own – easidream®

For the next few years I researched the problem as deeply as possible, canvassing valuable input from sleep experts, university departments and medical professionals like midwives, child psychologists and paediatricians. I also consulted with the baby care industry and product design teams and, of course, surveyed many parents with young babies. At last, after a 7-year gestation easidream® was born!

The finished product has been meticulously designed and researched. I considered it was essential for easidream® to undergo proper scientific trials to validate its efficiency… it was no good just me saying it worked, I needed to be 100% sure that it did! I embarked on a year long period of research in conjunction with University of Brighton medical experts, which involved testing both the moving platform and the soothing sounds on a wide selection of babies. These studies not only revealed just how effective easidream® was at promoting healthy sleep patterns, but also showed that it encourages parents to adopt safe sleep practices.

The findings revealed:

• Average crying time on easidream® was reduced from 18 minutes to less than 1 minute
• All of the babies that took part in the trials remained happily settled on their backs; great news in respect of SIDS
• Time to settle to sleep in some cases was reduced by up to 95%

We all know that when a new baby arrives, uninterrupted sleep is rare and we have to adapt to shorter, broken nights and savour every moment of sleep we can catch. But although we think our bodies are coping with just a few ‘catnaps’ a night, continuous lack of sleep eventually catches up on us all; it’s vitally important that we understand just how crucial sleep is to the whole family’s well being… not just for healthy child development, but also for the general health and well being of everyone in the household. Did you know that it has been proven that well rested children develop faster, are healthier and have fewer behavioural problems? With adults, lack of sleep has been proven to affect both memory and cognitive skills…. What more can I say? I was determined to invent a product that would not only help soothe particularly fractious babies, but also promote the formation of a healthy sleep pattern, so both babies and parents could benefit from a good night’s rest.

easidream® actually assists in encouraging the formation of a healthy sleep pattern plus it encourages babies to self settle on their back in the cot, which is great news in the fight against SIDS. It also solves the problem of sleep deprivation for the whole family by rewarding them with those valuable hours of sleep they so richly deserve.  End result: happy, healthier babies and happy, healthier parents!

HEALTHFUL HINTS:

1. Putting babies to sleep
   • Make sure you place your baby with their feet at the foot of the cot (but not touching the end of the cot) , to reduce the likelihood of the baby wriggling down and becoming overheated underneath any cot bedding, which may end up over the baby’s head. Overheating has been shown to greatly increase the likelihood of a SIDS related incident occurring. 
   • Also, remove soft toys from the cot, as they too could increase your baby’s temperature to an unsafe level.  This is why ewan, our dream sheep, is secured to the cot bars and not positioned directly in line with your baby’s head, just in case he becomes detached – although this is extremely unlikely! (Some of our website shots are at an angle that may look like ewan is close to the head, but I can assure you he’s not!)
   • Always ensure your baby is placed to sleep on their back; again this is incredibly important in reducing the likelihood of a SIDS incident occurring. (The beauty of easidream® is that it has been proven to actually help baby’s settle to sleep on their backs and so parents are more likely to follow the recommended safe sleep guidelines.)
   • While all of this is consistent with the American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines for Safe Sleeping , each baby is unique.   Always remember to ask your doctor what’s best for your baby’s sleep.
2. If they wake up or refuse to sleep:
   • …it is extremely important that you go and check your baby to determine the reason why. We have spent a great deal of time researching this particular area and having consulted medical professionals, and it is why we decided against having an automatic sound activated feature or a remote control that would “restart” the soother. As this is such a vulnerable age group, we consider it vitally important that parents return to their baby to remedy any problem – dirty nappy, thirsty, hungry etc. For healthy, happy sleep times we believe that interaction with your baby is vital and we strongly encourage this practise.