Sleep Hygiene-What is it?
Sleep hygiene refers to the daily habits and environmental conditions that support healthy, restorative sleep, such as consistent bedtimes, limited evening screen use, and calming wind-down routines. It is especially important in winter, when shorter daylight hours can disrupt circadian rhythms and affect mood and energy. For kids, strong sleep hygiene promotes better attention, memory, emotional regulation, and overall learning. Predictable routines and a comfortable sleep environment help them fall asleep more easily, wake feeling refreshed, and stay focused throughout the day. These habits build resilience during the winter months, when reduced sunlight can make children more tired or irritable.
Children and Sleep
Proper sleep is essential for children’s growth, learning, and emotional well-being, yet many kids and teens struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep. This can be stressful for parents, who often feel unsure how to help their children develop healthy sleep habits. Unlike adults, children are generally not recommended to take sleeping pills, and supplements should only be considered with guidance from a doctor. Fortunately, most sleep difficulties can be addressed through behavioral changes and creating a supportive sleep environment.
Sleep hygiene — the collection of habits and routines that promote healthy sleep — is a key factor in helping children rest better. Consistency is crucial, and strategies take time and repetition to be effective.
Create a Routine: Establish a consistent bedtime routine lasting around 20 minutes. Include three to four calm activities such as putting on pajamas, brushing teeth, taking a warm bath, and reading. Familiar routines provide comfort and signal to your child’s body that it’s time to wind down.
Set a Consistent Bedtime: Aligning sleep with a child’s biological clock makes falling asleep easier. Keep the same bedtime on school nights and weekends to avoid disrupting their sleep patterns.
Screen Curfews: Mobile devices, tablets, and TVs emit blue light that suppresses melatonin, making it harder to fall asleep. Screens also stimulate the brain. Keep devices out of bedrooms and avoid screen time for at least an hour before bed. Consider following a family media plan.
Exercise: Most children benefit from at least one hour of daily physical activity, which helps them fall asleep faster and stay asleep. Avoid vigorous exercise within two hours of bedtime.
Avoid Scary or Violent Content: Evening exposure to frightening or violent media can trigger anxiety and sleep disturbances. Save such content for daytime hours.
Limit Caffeine: Even small amounts of caffeine, found in soda, tea, chocolate, and decaf beverages, can disrupt sleep. Avoid giving children caffeine within six hours of bedtime.
Optimize the Bedroom Environment:
Temperature: Keep the room around 65°F to support the body’s natural cooling process for sleep.
Noise: Reduce distractions with noise-blocking curtains, fans, or white noise machines.
Light: Dim lights in the evening and keep the bedroom dark to promote melatonin production. A small nightlight is fine if your child is afraid of the dark.
Soothing Scents: Calming aromas like lavender can encourage relaxation through essential oils, diffusers, or potpourri.
Manage Bedtime Anxiety: Rising childhood anxiety can interfere with sleep. Help children process worries earlier in the day rather than at bedtime. Encourage journaling, mindfulness exercises, or guided breathing to calm the mind. Creating a designated “worry time” allows children to express concerns without disrupting nighttime routines.
Nighttime Awakenings: Even good sleepers sometimes wake at night. Respond with intention: provide reassurance without reinforcing dependency on parents for falling back asleep. Keep interactions brief and calm to encourage self-soothing.
With consistent routines, an optimized sleep environment, and strategies to reduce worry, most children can learn to fall asleep independently and maintain restful sleep through the night. Healthy sleep supports attention, emotional regulation, learning, and overall well-being, helping children thrive every day.
For even more information on establishing a sleep routine with your child check out Encouraging Good Sleep Habits.
Teens and Sleep
Teens need 8–10 hours of sleep per night for optimal physical, mental, and emotional health.
Biological changes make teens naturally inclined to stay up late.
Early school start times, homework, extracurriculars, and social activities often prevent teens from getting enough sleep.
Good sleep hygiene, limited screen time, reduced caffeine, and consistent routines improve sleep quality.
Why Sleep Matters for Teens
Sleep is essential for adolescents because it supports brain development, learning, memory, creativity, emotional regulation, and physical growth. Teens who get insufficient sleep often experience drowsiness, poor concentration, irritability, and mood swings. Chronic sleep loss can increase risks for anxiety, depression, and interpersonal conflicts. Physically, sleep supports immune function, hormone regulation, and muscle and tissue recovery. Lack of sleep has also been linked to unhealthy metabolic profiles, increasing the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
Sleep deprivation affects decision-making and risk-taking because the frontal lobe, which controls impulses, is not fully rested. Teens who do not sleep enough are more likely to engage in risky behaviors, including unsafe driving, substance use, and other dangerous activities. Drowsy driving is particularly hazardous, as reaction times are slowed and compounded by inexperience and distractions.
How Much Sleep Do Teens Need?
Experts recommend 8–10 hours of sleep per night for teens aged 13–18. Younger preteens may need slightly more, while older adolescents approaching adulthood may require slightly less. Individual needs vary, so some teens may feel fully rested with more or less than the recommended range.
Challenges to Teen Sleep
Several factors make it difficult for teens to get enough sleep:
Delayed Sleep Schedule & School Start Times: Teens have a biological tendency toward later bedtimes due to slower accumulation of sleep drive and delayed melatonin production. Early school start times force them to wake before they are fully rested. Catching up on sleep on weekends often worsens irregular sleep patterns.
Time Demands: Homework, work, social commitments, sports, and other activities reduce the time available for sleep. Stress from these demands can further interfere with rest.
Electronic Devices: Phones, tablets, and other screens emit blue light, which suppresses melatonin and stimulates the brain. Notifications can disrupt sleep, and many teens keep devices in their bedroom overnight.
Underlying Conditions: Some teens experience sleep disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD or autism, or mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression, all of which can interfere with sleep.
Improving Teen Sleep
Parents can help teens develop healthy sleep habits through good sleep hygiene:
Aim for 8–10 hours of sleep each night and maintain consistent bed- and wake-times, even on weekends.
Establish a calming pre-bedtime routine to signal the body to wind down.
Limit caffeine intake, especially in the afternoon and evening.
Keep electronic devices away for at least 30 minutes before bed and on silent mode overnight.
Ensure the bedroom is cool, dark, quiet, and comfortable, with a supportive mattress and pillow.
How Parents Can Support Teens
Parents can start by asking teens about their sleep habits, setting consistent bedtimes, and helping them balance school, social, and extracurricular demands to prioritize rest. Supporting teens in managing schedules, reducing stress, and creating a healthy sleep environment is key to helping them achieve restorative sleep and overall well-being.
For more information on helping your teen get quality sleep read Got a Sleepy Teenager?
My Anxiety, Can't Shake it Off of Me
As the 2025 hit song “Anxiety” declares, this feeling is something many of us know all too well. But anxiety has it's benefits! Anxiety, in manageable amounts, can actually be beneficial because it serves as the brain’s natural alert system, helping us recognize potential challenges or risks. It motivates preparation, sharpens focus, and encourages careful decision-making, turning worry into a tool for growth and resilience.
Why “Normal Anxiety” Can Be Helpful for Kids
Encourages Preparation and Responsibility: Feeling anxious before events like tests, performances, or the first day of school can motivate children to plan ahead, think through choices, and approach situations with care. This supports responsibility, problem-solving, and healthy decision-making.
Promotes Safety and Awareness: Anxiety acts as a natural alert system, helping kids recognize and avoid risky or potentially harmful situations.
Supports Emotional Growth: Experiencing manageable anxiety gives children opportunities to practice coping skills, build resilience, and understand that worry is a normal part of life. Over time, this fosters emotional regulation and strengthens problem-solving abilities.
Reflects Developmental Normalcy: Children’s fears and worries evolve with age — from stranger anxiety in toddlers, to social concerns in preteens, to performance-related worries in teens. These experiences are a normal part of growing up, not necessarily signs of a disorder.
More information:
Recognizing and Responding to Child Anxiety
Addressing Child Anxiety by Reducting Accommodation
Raising Well Nourished Kids
This podcast focuses on a gentle, proven approach to raising confident eaters and building strong foundations for health.
As the weather cools, help your child stay healthy with practical steps focusing on nutrition and routine. The key is incorporating immune-boosting foods like warming soups, broths, and winter vegetables, while ensuring they get enough protein, fiber, and healthy fats—even for picky eaters. Look for clever ways to sneak extra nutrients into common meals like porridge and smoothies, and gently introduce gut-healthy fermented foods. Beyond the kitchen, remember the simple power of good sleep, daily walks, and sunshine to support overall well-being. By calmly and consistently prioritizing these healthy habits, you can feel confident in nourishing your family throughout the colder months.
Healthy Teen Life
The Healthy Teen Life podcast is a valuable resource for guiding your adolescent. This weekly show takes a holistic approach to teen well-being, providing information on crucial topics like nutrition and healthy eating habits, while also deeply addressing mental wellness concerns such as anxiety, self-esteem, and social media pressures. It equips teens with practical life skills and mindset shifts needed for confidence and success, featuring expert guests who offer real, actionable advice. It’s an excellent way for teens to gain clarity, build resilience, and develop a strong, healthy sense of self.
Healthy Tech Boundaries
Winter has arrived, and with colder weather and shorter days, our children naturally spend more time indoors. While technology can be a wonderful resource for learning and entertainment, this increased indoor time often translates to significantly more screen time. Now is the perfect moment to proactively establish or reinforce healthy technology boundaries, ensuring the winter months are balanced with creative play, family connection, and necessary downtime.
Setting and maintaining a healthy tech balance is crucial for your child's development for several key reasons:
*Protecting Sleep and Physical Health: Excessive screen time, particularly right before bed, disrupts the production of melatonin, leading to poor sleep quality. A lack of balance can also displace time for physical activity, which is vital for both physical development and mood regulation.
*Fostering Essential Life Skills: Unrestricted digital use can hinder the development of important skills like focus, patience, and independent problem-solving. Limiting screen time encourages children to engage in offline activities—such as reading, creative play, and conversation—which strengthen attention spans and build stronger relational skills.
*Encouraging Mental and Emotional Wellness: A healthy balance helps mitigate risks associated with social media and gaming, such as cyberbullying, social comparison, and emotional withdrawal. Clear boundaries promote engagement in real-world relationships and activities that are fundamental to developing emotional resilience and a positive self-image.
1. Collaborate & Communicate Openly
Involve Your Child: Work with your child to create a Family Tech Agreement or contract (templates are available from organizations like the AAP). Children are more likely to respect rules they helped create.
Explain Why: Don't just list rules; explain the reasons for boundaries (sleep health, safety, better focus). This fosters understanding, not resentment.
Promote Open Dialogue: Create a judgment-free space where your child feels safe coming to you if they encounter anything confusing, upsetting, or inappropriate online.
2. Set Clear, Consistent Boundaries
- Tech-Free Zones/Times:Establish specific rules for when and where devices are not allowed. Common examples include:
- Mealtimes: No devices at the table.
- Bedrooms (especially at night): Devices should be turned off and charged in a common area at least an hour before bedtime to protect sleep.
- Family Outings/Events: Encourage presence and in-person connection.
- Screen Time Limits: Set daily or weekly time limits for recreational use. Be realistic and consider your child's age, adjusting the limits as they mature.
- "Work Before Play": Establish a routine where homework, chores, and reading are completed before screen time begins.
3.Focus on Digital Literacy and Safety
- Content Restrictions: Use parental controls on browsers and apps (like YouTube and Google Play) to manage what they see. Use content restrictions to open the door for conversation, not just block access.
- Teach Online Safety: Educate your children about privacy settings, how to identify fake news or scams, the dangers of oversharing personal information, and how to handle cyberbullying. Remind them that the digital footprint is permanent.
- Co-Engage: Watch videos or play games together. This not only allows you to monitor content but also creates shared connection and discussion opportunities.
4. Model the Behavior
- Lead by Example: The most powerful boundary is the one you set for yourself. Put your own phone away during family meals, conversations, and dedicated family time.
Sample Family Technology Agreement
A New Year's Resolution for Balance
This year, consider making a New Year's Resolution that prioritizes time over tasks for your children and teens. Instead of filling every hour with structured activities, commit to allowing younger children the space to be bored, which is essential for igniting creativity and problem-solving skills. For teenagers, resolve to protect their downtime—unstructured time away from screens, social pressures, and academic demands—as this crucial break is vital for managing anxiety, developing self-reflection, and preventing burnout. By committing to less scheduling and more breathing room, you give your family the gift of balance and mental resilience in the year ahead.
