Is Your Child Getting Enough Sleep?

What your kids do during the night has a huge impact on their daily lives.

Sleep plays a key role in mental, physical and emotional health, from infancy through teen years.

Now, experts at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine have reviewed the research and arrived at a target slumber number for each age group.

Healthy Rest Offers Many Rewards

New guidelines published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine advise the following daily sleep totals:

• 4 to 12 months: 12 to 16 hours
  
• 1 to 2 years: 11 to 14 hours
  
• 3 to 5 years: 10 to 13 hours
  
• 6 to 12 years: 9 to 12 hours
  
• 13 to 18 years: 8 to 10 hours
  

“The right amount of sleep helps kids learn well, behave and feel happy,” says Lewis Milrod, M.D., director of Pediatric Sleep Medicine and a neurologist at K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital.

“Adequate rest also wards off health problems like high blood pressure, extra weight and heart issues.”

It's normal for kids to resist  bedtime. Help ease them into a healthy sleep routine by remembering the following guidelines.

• Modeling: Kids learn by watching you. Show them you value sleep and they’ll start to understand its importance.
• Routines: “Keep sleep, waking, naps and play around the same time every day,” advises Dr. Milrod. “And develop soothing night time rituals, such as reading.”
  
• Screen-Free Time: Ban phones, TVs and tablets from kids’ bedrooms.

"Make it a rule to shut them down at least 30 minutes before bedtime," Dr. Milrod says.

Don't Let Holiday Stress Keep You Awake at Night

With Thanksgiving less than a day away, and just a month until Christmas, we're once again reminded how quickly "the most wonderful time of the year" can also become the most stressful.

Family. Finances. A tree in your house. Holiday stressors can feel immense when they all seem to hit at once, and in today's society, it's almost commonplace to simply "give in" to our anxieties keeping us awake at night.

According to a recent article in the New York Times,  Why Sleep Matters, nearly a quarter of Americans don't get enough shut-eye because they're too busy “concentrating on things."

 As commonplace as it may seem, however, losing sleep to stress is unhealthy and counterproductive.

"Lack of sleep can contribute to numerous health issues, including higher prevalence of chronic pain, high blood pressure, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and premature aging," says Carol Ash, D.O., Director of Sleep Medicine for Meridian Health.

In addition to restoring the immune system, sleep is vital to the energy and focus necessary to handling the life's most stressful situations head on. To break the stress-insomnia-stress cycle and get to sleep when your mind is in overdrive, Dr. Ash recommends a few different techniques.

"Find a cause. Studies show volunteering and pro bono work helps create external focus and connects us to others," Dr. Ash says. "These types of commitments help people find purpose and meaning in life, which can help eliminate racing thoughts at night."

"For a more immediate solution, try deep breaths," she adds. "Mindful breathing helps you relax and clear your mind prior to bedtime."

Dr. Ash on Steve Harvey Show: Biggest Mistake Made by People Seeking Sound Sleep

What is the NUMBER ONE mistake made by people in their efforts to get a better night's sleep? On a recent visit to The Steve Harvey Show, Meridian Health Director of Sleep Medicine Dr. Carol Ash answers this question - and helps a woman who hasn't had a full night's rest in more than five years!