Curated by Aliesha Shorten ND
Melatonin is often known as the sleep hormone. Which naturally increases during the evening. To help the increase of melatonin, we can use precursors and darkness to activate the hormone and create the ideal sleep environment.
Foods like avocado and banana contain precursors like tryptophan and other vitamins and minerals that can help promote sleep such as magnesium, B6 and potassium.
Meditation is another great tool I have personally used for myself and my children. Research has shown meditation to be effective for relaxation and sleep. We use a children’s guided meditation on Spotify by the New Horizon Holistic Centre. It helps the children get into a relaxed state with slow breathing exercises and a guided meditation/story.
Darkness matters! Light is stimulating, wether it’s the early morning sun streaming in or a sliver of street lights shining through the gaps in the blinds. Our eco blockout blinds are perfect for this! If you need to use a night light, a red bulb must be used. Red is less disruptive to sleep than other wavelengths. Screens are included in this. Minimise screen use for 2 hrs before sleep with no screen time 1hr before sleeping.
A toddlers mind can often be in overdrive, especially at bed time! Their bodies may be ready for sleep, but their minds need convincing! A bedtime routine can make a big impact on time taken to fall asleep and sleep quality through the night. A simple age appropriate flow chart can help. Head to our drop down menu for a printable pdf. We have found our routine to be very useful.
A routine could go something like this
- Dinner
- Shower/Bath (I make sure I put blockout blinds up now)
- Book (always stick to your limit! we read 2 max)
- Brush teeth, play mediation and say goodnight!
You can use the flow chart as a rewards chart, keeping it in your child's room, they can tick it off as they go each night or even put a sticker on it as they hop into bed
