Six Tips for Your Autumn Sleep Check-up

Labor Day has come and gone and it’s time to get back into the fall routine.  The kids are back in school, the days are getting shorter, and it won’t be long before the leaves start changing colors.  Autumn has always been an ideal time to step back and look at your family’s needs.

Getting a good night’s sleep is just as important as diet and physical activity. In school age children, sleep deprivation can cause inattentiveness, irritability, lack of judgment, poor memory, anxiety, and even depression.

Here are some good rest tips from SleepBetter.org:

• Avoid caffeine and nicotine in the evening hours. Coffee, tea, many soft drinks and tobacco products are stimulants that can hamper your effort to fall asleep.

• Avoid alcohol close to bedtime. It may make you drowsy now, but later it will interfere with normal sleep.

• Exercise regularly, but make sure your workout if finished at least three hours before bedtime.

• Most computer screens (including tablets and smartphones) emit a blue light that tells the brain to wake up. Avoid surfing the Internet or playing computer games right before bedtime.

• Create a sleeping environment that is dark, comfortable and cool

• Establish a regular relaxing bedtime routine for the entire family, such as reading a bedtime story.

For more sleep advice and tips, check out the articles on our Sleep Tips page, or use the search bar at the top of this page.