When it comes to having a restful night’s sleep, the importance of establishing bedtime routines for your family cannot be overstated. Creating and promoting good sleep hygiene can help all members of your family get the sleep they need and help them to be their best during the day. In this article, we’ll talk about the importance of sleep hygiene and provide tips to help create a restful family environment.
1. Turning Off to Turn On: Benefits of Creating a Bedtime Routine
Developing a bedtime routine can bring many benefits to your life – and not just during the night. Taking intentional time to bring on relaxation can create balance in your life.
A bedtime routine looks different for everyone. Whether you give yourself 10 minutes to parse out the day’s events or spend 30 minutes journaling, creating an evening ritual can help transition you from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
- Improved sleep: Making a habit out of your bedtime helps set your body into a rhythm. While it can take time to adjust, the long-term benefits of improved sleep are worth it.
- Feelings of control: Having a routine allows you to take control of your life and schedule by making intentional decisions. Doing so can help reduce uncertainty and boost your mental health.
While some people create bedtime routines to fall asleep faster or wake up more energized, the practice of turning your focus to yourself can benefit other areas of your life as well. Making space for calm pays off in better sleep, and better sleep pays off in allowing you to be more productive and creative during the day.
2. Sweet Dreams: Establishing Sleep Hygiene Tips for the Whole Family
Sleep is an essential part of life, and healthy sleep habits are essential for our children’s emotional, mental and physical well-being. With bedtimes changing in our families due to working-from-home lifestyles and other adjustments, it’s more important than ever to cultivate healthy sleep habits within the family. Here are some practical sleep hygiene tips to help your whole family get a good night’s rest:
- Keep a consistent bedtime. Set the same bedtime and wake time for each family member. This consistency can help instill a healthy bedtime routine.
- Create a bedtime ritual. Make a practice of winding down in preparation for sleep, and have each family member pick one part of the ritual that they like. This may include reading a book, writing in a journal, or listening to calming music.
- Create a comfortable sleep environment. Make sure the bedroom and bed are comfortable for everybody in the house, and keep electronics devices away from the bed.
It’s also helpful to establish rules around sleep that everyone in the family must follow. These can include no caffeine or sugar after certain times, no phones or screens in the bedroom, and no TV in the bedroom. If your family is having difficulty sleeping, speak to a healthcare professional or sleep specialist. Establishing a healthy sleep regimen will help ensure your family is rested and ready to tackle any adventure!
3. Drifting Away: Making the Bedroom Protective & Comforting
The bedroom should act as a safe haven from daily life and the world outside. A protective and comforting environment is one of the most important factors for a restful night’s sleep and a refreshing start to the morning. Here are three ideas to help create this kind of environment.
Choose Dedicated Decor
Create a space with decor that is calming and peaceful—perhaps a wall hanging that invokes a calming nature scene, a warm and cozy blanket draped over the bed, or a wind chime for extra serenity. Dedicate certain areas of the room for specific tasks such as a reading nook or meditation space instead of piles of piles of paperwork, laptop chargers, or general clutter.
Soothing Colors & Lighting
Pick paint colors for the walls or bedding fabrics that have soft, neutral tones and add relaxing lighting such as a bedside lamp instead of the harsher overhead lights. Replace any artificial or blue-light emitting devices, such as a computer or television, with a soothing salt lamp instead.
Incorporate Nature
Add a few natural touches to the bedroom by incorporating plants, a water feature, natural wood accents, and freshly laundered textiles. Allow natural light into the room as much as possible during the daylight hours as this can positively influence one’s mood by activating serotonin production in the brain.
4. Tuck In & Tune Out: Setting the Mood for a Restful Evening
For many, the end of the day is the time to relax and wind down. When it comes to setting the mood for sanity-saving rest and unplugging from the day, the actions you take can make a huge difference in both the quantity and quality of your sleep. Here are some tips to help you ease into a restful evening.
- Turn off electronics: An hour before bed is the designated time to turn off phones, computers, and tablets and move away from any blue light-emitting devices. A little bit of reading, meditation, light stretching, or journaling is a great substitute if you need something to do.
- Prep for the next day: Clear your physical and mental space for the next day’s tasks by making sure your place is relatively tidy and your to-do list for the next day is written down. Not only will these actions help you rest better, but it will also make your next day much more productive and stress-free.
A few little steps can go a long way in setting up your room for a dreamy night of sleep. Try dimming the lights, brewing a cup of your favorite aromatic tea, spraying a relaxing essential oil blend around the room, or playing a soft lullaby.
These tips may seem insignificant, but they can make all the difference when it comes to helping your body and mind prepare for the sweetest of dreams.
5. Wake Up Refreshed: Reaping the Rewards of Improved Sleep Hygiene
Sleeping well is integral to managing stress, improving your mood, and maintaining your overall health and wellbeing. Improving your sleep habits and hygiene can leave you feeling much more refreshed and energized during the day. Here are five ways to benefit from a good night’s sleep.
1. Be consistent. Develop a consistent sleep routine that works for you and stick with it. Try to go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time each morning so your body easily falls into a pattern of relaxing and restoring.
2. Keep your bedroom dark and cool. Shut off any electronic devices and keep the temperature of your bedroom cool, ideally around 68° F (20° C). Restricting light and noise helps the body produce melatonin and deepens your sleep quality.
- Invest in blackout curtains and an eye mask.
- Think about purchasing noise-cancelling headphones.
- Put in some heavy-duty earplugs.
Achieving better sleep hygiene is a gradual process. Begin by slowly conquering the above tips one by one and eventually you will be sleeping like a baby.
3. Increase daytime activity. Exercise, plenty of exposure to daylight, and spending time outdoors are all important for getting your body clock running smoothly. Embracing physical activity is not only good for your health but it also helps you sleep better at night.
4. Monitor your food and caffeine intake. Collating nutritious and tasty meals throughout the day helps maintain balanced energy levels throughout the day and night. Also be mindful of your caffeine consumption. Have your last cup by noon to allow the body to have a good 8-hour break before going to sleep.
Adopting a few simple and manageable improvements to your sleep hygiene can make all the difference in the way you feel and operate day-to-day. Now you know what to do, you can look forward to waking up feeling well-rested and ready to take on the day!
The road to healthy sleep for any family takes commitment and a bit of effort. But when practiced consistently, the rewards are sure to follow. By learning how to establish and practice proper bedtime routines, you and your family can settle in for restful nights and energizing days filled with enriching activities and treasured memories.
