Sleep hygiene is critical to your family’s health and just as important as a healthy diet, exercise regimen and intellectual stimulation. However, since everyone in the family has different circadian rhythms, habits, sleep needs and obstacles for attaining quality sleep, there’s no one size fits all strategy. If you’re a parent, you need your own high quality sleep but you also need to ensure your children create good sleep hygiene habits.

Luckily, there are some basic rules for optimizing your best sleep. First, keep an eye out for any family member exhibiting symptoms of sleep apnea or other risky issues. They might require medical intervention such as a CPAP machine, the care of a doctor or special devices. Otherwise, cases of insomnia and occasional sleeplessness are common but may be addressed with improved sleep hygiene.

1. Make a screen time curfew

The more time between looking at a screen and going to bed the better, but aim for at least two hours. If the kids go to bed at 9pm, that means no televisions, laptops, smartphones or other screened devices starting at 7pm. However, this rule isn’t just for kids; it can help adults sleep better, too. [Read more…]