It’s still summer and some of us are not going on holidays yet, we might be working from home or not but what is for sure is that our children are home from school.
So it’s summer, but it doesn’t quite feel like it, not for us at least. We have the additional work of making sure our children’s daily schedule makes sense. Let’s see what can help us keeping the situation under control.
Outdoor Daytime Activity
We want to avoid sunlight when it’s time for bed, but during the day, getting outdoors and into the sunshine can work wonders for your little one’s nighttime sleep. Natural sunlight does a number of cool things for us. It provides vitamin D, which helps regulate our moods, it stimulates cortisol production, which despite its bad rap as the “stress hormone” is actually quite beneficial at the right time and in the right amounts, and it promotes serotonin production as well.
Serotonin does two wonderful things for your little ones. It enhances their mood during the day, and at night, the pineal gland converts it to melatonin, which helps them get to sleep. So the more sunlight, especially early-morning sunlight, they can get, the easier they’ll be able to drift off at night. (Just don’t forget the sunscreen!)
Consistent Routine
Again? Yes, again! Keep the structure of the day as fixed as possible: the time and place of meals, naps and bedtime are the most important thing to focus on. Predictability is very important for children, it makes them feel safe and in control.
It is possible that because of daycares being closed your child might fight nap time, remember that in order to function well during the day and in order to sleep well at night naps are very much needed. Just be consistent and after a couple of days your children will go back to loving naps.
Watch What You Eat
Junk food is a bit of a summer tradition. Hot days are so much more enjoyable with frozen treats, ice creams, popsicoles, colas and fruit. But all of those simple carbs can mess with your child’s sleep. High carb intake can increase the number of night wakings and reduce the amount of deep sleep your child gets, and leave them feeling lethargic and sluggish the next day.
Seeing how they’re likely to be in and out of the house, and breakfast and lunch might not be as easy to schedule as they would be during the school year, it’s a good idea to leave some healthy snack selections out on the table.
Cut up some fruit, prepare some sandwiches and cut them into quarters, dump some healthy crackers into a bowl, and let your kids grab them as they please. As long as they’re getting the majority of their calories from a healthy source, a few popsicles and a root beer float shouldn’t have too much of a detrimental effect.
And remember: sugar after 5 pm can impact negatively on night sleep.
There you have it! A couple of tips on how to survive schools being closed while you are not on holiday.
I hope you will soon have the opportunity to travel and relax, in the meantime I send you all a lot of positive energy.
Remember that if you need any help, I am here for you.
