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October 22, 2015 by Angela Walsh Leave a Comment

It’s Not Too Late to Prepare Your Little One for the Time Change

 

 

We will be turning our clocks back to standard time on Sunday November 5th.  This is good news in that we get an extra hour of sleep Sunday morning.  However, for babies and little children, unless you have begun to reset their internal time clock, they will still wake up at their normal time. But it is not too late to start adjusting their schedule, so that by Sunday morning, you may all get that extra 60 minutes, that we all so crave!

Begin tonight by serving dinner earlier. Turn down the lights in the house in the hours leading up to bedtime, and have electronics  turned off. These are all the things that act as cues for your baby or child to know it’s getting close to bedtime. By dimming rooms in the house, and turning off TVs, computers and other such devices, it will allow your child’s body to begin the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone.

Since your child’s internal sleep clock is set by light and dark, not only do you want to make the house dark at night in preparation for sleep, you also want to expose your child to as much sunshine and daylight as possible. This will reprogram your child’s clock and get them adjusted to this new time change.

Keep in mind that time changes can affect both your body clock and health. Similar to the feeling of jet lag one experiences when traveling to a different time zone, switching from daylight saving time to standard time, can leave you feeling tired; making it more difficult to concentrate or be productive at work. For children, the hour change to their sleeping schedule, can leave them tired and cranky for several days.

So in preparation for this time change, on November 5th at 1:00am, the best thing you can do is begin to stagger your child’s bedtime so that they are going to bed about 15 minutes earlier each night. If you begin this process now, you will be ahead of the game by aligning your child’s circadian rhythms with the new time change.

Besides the time changes that take place when we switch between daylight saving, standard time and back-children often have difficulty settling into a good sleep pattern. This can lead them and their parents to become sleep deprived, hyperactive, trouble focusing on daily tasks and higher learning, and in more serious situations-health issues such as diabetes,obesity,anxiety, depression and attention deficit disorder.

If you feel your child or family could benefit from the assistance of a child sleep specialist, take a look through my sleep success plans or contact me for further information.

 

Angela Walsh is a Family Sleep Institute, Certified Infant and Child Sleep Consultant and the founder of Babes in Sleepland. She helps sleep deprived babies, children and families, get back on track and get the sleep they need and desire. To learn more about Angela and how she can help you, visit her website: babesinsleepland.com.  Also get sleep tips, the latest research on baby and child products, and be part of her weekly Q and A at her Facebook page: Babes in Sleepland.

Like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter for daily updates on interesting tips and information to help you and your child sleep better.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Adjusting a child's bedtime, anxiety, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, child sleep expert, Circadian Rhythms, How to adjust schedules to time changes, Pediatric Sleep Expert

September 23, 2015 by Angela Walsh Leave a Comment

Circadian Rhythms and Homeostatic Sleep Drive-The Sleep Pendulum

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As a Pediatric Sleep Specialist, I often talk with my clients about body rhythms. That’s because when it comes to helping children get the kind of restorative and consolidated sleep they need to be happy and healthy, we must help them sleep when their bodies dictate.

Let’s take a look at how two kinds of rhythms, circadian and homeostatic, influence our sleep patterns.

Sleep 101

What makes our bodies need sleep?  What predicts how many hours of sleep we require each day, and when it’s time to wake up? It’s easier to understand the answers to these questions, when we first understand how the body’s two internal sleep drives, the homeostatic sleep drive and circadian rhythm, regulate our sleep and wake schedules.

Sleep Drives Explained

Homeostasis is any self-regulating process by which biological systems strive to maintain stability, while optimizing conditions for survival.  Sleep, like body temperature and blood sugar, is regulated internally.  Healthy Sleep, a resource from the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School and WGBH Educational Foundation, uses the following example to explain the Homeostatic Sleep Drive:

“When body temperature falls, blood vessels constrict and we shiver; when blood sugar levels rise, the pancreas secretes insulin; when we remain awake for an extended period of time, structures in the brain promote sleep. Furthermore, the duration and depth of our sleep vary according to the quantity and quality of sleep obtained previously.”

Circadian Rhythm is often referred to as the “body clock.” It is a 24-hour cycle that is vital in determining when we sleep and when we are awake. Many environmental factors can alter circadian rhythms, most notably sunlight, but also temperature, shift work, medications and time zone changes.

What Happens with Too Little Sleep?

When we sleep, and how long we sleep, is the result of how homeostatic and circadian rhythms combine. The Brain from Top to Bottom, talks about how homeostatic debt, “increases as a function of how long you have been awake and decreases as you sleep. In other words, the longer you stay awake, the greater the pressure you will feel to go to sleep.

Commonly known as sleep debt, homeostatic debt “also explains why, if you stay up all night, not only will you sleep longer the next night, but your percentage of deep sleep will be higher.”

The phase of your circadian rhythm also “greatly influences the onset, duration, and quality of your sleep. These phases are governed by your biological clock, whose rhythm is endogenous, but is reset regularly by daylight.

Your biological clock “produces a cycle lasting about 24 hours, where the optimal times for falling asleep, dreaming, waking up, and doing work, occur over the course of each day. For example, your circadian oscillator will typically make you noticeably sleepier from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, and even sleepier from 2:00 AM to 5:00 AM.

Sleep for Success

“Under normal circumstances, your periods of activity and rest are in phase with the alternation of day and night and your “circadian” pendulum and your “homeostatic” pendulum are in synch.  You sleep well when you fall asleep, and you function well when you wake up. But when this relationship is disturbed, and the two pendulums are no longer in synch, then the quality of your sleep and your performance when awake, deteriorate significantly.” http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/capsules/outil_bleu24.html

Applying Sleep Science to Your Children

As parents, you know that there are many external factors that can disrupt these two pendulums within your children,and with the balancing act of school, daycare, extra-curricular activities and other family commitments, it can be difficult to get back on track.

The science of sleep can be difficult at times to navigate. If you feel your child or family could benefit from the assistance of a child sleep specialist, take a look through my sleep success plans or contact me for further information.

Please let me know if you found this information helpful.

Angela Walsh is a Family Sleep Institute, Certified Infant and Child Sleep Consultant and the founder of Babes in Sleepland. She helps sleep deprived babies, children and families, get back on track and get the sleep they need and desire. To learn more about Angela and how she can help you, visit her website: babesinsleepland.com.  Also get sleep tips, the latest research on baby and child products, and be part of her weekly Q and A at her Facebook page: Babes in Sleepland.

Filed Under: Circadian Rhythms, Homeostatic Sleep Drive, Pediatric Sleep Expert, The Sleep Pendulum

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Meet Angela

My name is Angela Walsh.  I am a Child Sleep Consultant Certified by the Family Sleep Institute, and the founder of Babes in Sleepland.  As the mother of four grown children (three boys and a girl), my mission is to help parents like you enjoy every … (READ MORE)

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