Exercise and Sleep Tips for Children

Combining exercise and sleep can be a tricky balance.  Getting proper sleep for yourself or your children can be very challenging in this fast paced world.  We want ourselves and our children to exercise but all parents want their children to sleep too!

For children some of the best suggestions are:

1. Limit vigorous physical activity before bed creating a calming atmosphere.  Try  yoga, tai chi or a stroll which may be more beneficial in order to help children transition to sleep time.
2. Turn off the television/computer/tablet/phone at least 30 minutes before bed.
3. Establish a routine at bedtime – brush teeth, read for 20 minutes and go to bed.
4. Try to stick with the routine especially with regular bedtimes and morning wake up times.

For children with sensory processing deficits or autism spectrum disorders, establishing healthy sleep patterns can be even more challenging.

Autism Sleeps™ serves as a thorough resource of sleep sensory strategies and suggestions for preparing the “sleep environment”. Sample bedtime and wake-up routines are provided as templates, especially to guide parents of children with sleep difficulties.  Also included are checklists to identify which of the six sensory area(s) are impacted by poor sleep. A menu of sensory strategies in each of those affected areas is available for use in preparing a person to sleep, stay asleep and transition to wake up. Additionally, a diary and graph are available for logging the impact of the strategies implemented to determine those that are most effective in helping restless minds sleep.  Find out more information here.

Source: Fix.com Blog

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