Inculcating Good Habits for Teenagers Sleep Hygiene

Studies show our biologic clocks change with puberty. Many teens are not ready to fall asleep until at least midnight or later. However, they still need eight or nine hours of sleep per night, and would normally awaken at 8-10 a.m. or later. – UNM School of Medicine To help us fall asleep at night, our

Waking Up to the Importance of Sleep

Sleep. I never used to think much about it. Then I had kids and I started obsessing over how many hours of sleep they are getting a night. I knew it was important for my children even if I couldn’t be more specific than “it’s important for their growth and development”. Then I learned just how important. Even the loss

Lully Sleep Guardian: Helping Children Sleep Better

When G1 was very young, he suffered from night terrors. He would wake up crying and screaming and it would take me a long time to help him calm down. I could hold him and tell him he was okay but it was like he couldn’t hear me. Although we finally got through that painful

This Caffeine-Free Alternative will Boost Cognitive Function and Alertness

In a recent post, we explored the negative effects of blue light on sleep, but while those effects may be hazardous for sleep, they can be quite beneficial when we’re awake. Blue Light improves alertness and cognitive function If you’re reliant on your morning cuppa to kick start the old “grey cells”, you may want to reconsider

What Happens When Your Brain is Sleep Deprived

Optimal brain function requires optimal brain health and optimal brain health requires adequate sleeping hours. In other words, being sleep deprived can lead to serious negative consequences for brain health and function. It’s been said over and over how important it is to get enough sleep: how the lost of one hour of sleep a

Forge of Honor – Fighting Bedtime Monsters in the Name of Imaginative Play

When I was little, I would pretend I had an imaginary friend under my bed to keep me company at night because I was afraid of the dark. When I grew older, the fear of the dark became the fear of the boogie man who would come through the windows and kidnap little children from

Shichida 5 Minute Suggestion

This post has been moved to the Right Brain Child. Click the following link to read it: Shichida’s 5 Minute Suggestion.

Night-time Sleep is More Important than Day-time Napping

As a parent, we all know that sleep is important for brain development. Even missing out on one hour of sleep a day cumulatively can have a negative impact on children right up until adulthood. Unfortunately, getting young children to sleep has always been a battle of wills and so it has been for us…

Child Development: The Value of Doing Nothing

With a child’s greatest potential for learning being in the first six years of life, it is easy for a parent to get carried away and desire to cram as much as possible into every last minute of a child’s waking moment.  According to the information on brain development and how we learn, that’s a

Toddler Development: Moving the Toddler into His Own Bed

With Gavin having rolled off the bed three times already and Gareth starting to gain more movement, I have been pondering over new sleeping arrangements that would keep everyone safe and happy.  Then we stumbled upon the solution by accident… Recently, hubby and I were at Robinson’s looking for Chinese New Year clothes for the