Kids NEED Their Sleep!

My darling daughter went to her first slumber party this weekend. Was that ever a tough one on the parents! Of course, we worried about her and how she would do--would she be able to fall asleep? would she be grumpy the next day from lack of sleep? would she hear ghost stories that would cause her to have nightmares or difficulty falling asleep during the next month?

Well, to make a long story short, she did fine and had a great time. I picked her up the morning after the party and she was very pleasant and had no residual insomniac-induced grumpiness. She went to bed at her regular time last night, but had some trouble waking up for school today.

Coincidentally, I just ran across a recent study by Northwestern University that being well-rested lowers a child's chances of being overweight. The article stated "Kids who slept 10 to 11 hours had the lowest body mass index (BMI); those who slept less had the highest. Experts suspect that lack of sleep disrupts metabolism and appetite." (from Woman's Day Magazine, Sept. 2007)

While that's one good reason to make sure your little ones get to bed on time, there are dozens of other reasons for ensuring a good night's sleep, such as the possibility of a link between lack of sleep and ADHD.

Researchers have verified that "chronic poor sleep results in daytime tiredness, difficulties with focused attention, low threshold to express negative emotion (irritability and easy frustration), and difficulty modulating impulses and emotions. "(Seminars in Pediatric Neurology, March 1996) Basically, these are the same symptoms as children frequently diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. That's definitely something parents should take into consideration before dosing their child with ADHD medicine. (Something to talk to the doctor about--and be sure to address the possibilities of apnea and snoring, while you're there.)

Brainy Mom recommends making sure those little ones get the zzz's they need every night. What have you got to lose?