Creating the Ideal Sleep Environment

Sleep is a skill that needs to be taught, and just like most areas of life, it takes preparation.  The first part of learning to sleep, is making sure that the environment is ‘just right’.  It is okay if your child is older, you can still make adjustments that will cause improvements in sleep.

            The first thing you want to do, is to make sure that the sleeping areas are cool.  Ideally, they should be between 66°-70°.  Infants (under 12 months old) should not have blankets (or anything else) in the crib, so I recommend using a wearable blanket (some of my favorites: summer & winter)

            The second part of creating the perfect sleep environment is to make the sleeping area dark.  Growing up, my family used to tease me about being a vampire because I liked my room dark - so dark that I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face when the lights were out.  That is the kind of dark you need for your children!  When I was a kid I didn’t know about blackout shades or window film so I used thumb tacks to pin fleece blankets and dark towels over my windows.  My siblings might have teased, but I had the right idea.  Melatonin – the sleep hormone – is induced by darkness, and inhibited by light, especially blue tinted light.  If your child’s room is not dark enough, then their Melatonin will be suppressed which will make sleep much harder to come by! Most clocks, baby monitors, etc. have lights to indicate that they are on, so be sure to cover the, (I am partial to using a tiny bit of electrical tape).

            The final element of an ideal sleep environment is the sound.  Sleep spaces should be quiet, and calm.  The best way to achieve this is to use a white noise machine or a fan.  The sound (only white noise, rain, ocean waves, and similar sounds – never lullabies, other music, or voices) should be around the same volume as standing next to a running shower and it should be on a different side of the room from the crib or bed. The noise maker that I most prefer is the Hatch baby rest. This does double duty of a noise maker and an okay-to-wake clock. Just be sure that you turn the light on it WAY down/off. For a more simple and portable noise maker, this one is durable, and can run off of electricity or batteries. It is a great travel option.

Those are the three basic elements to creating the ideal sleep environment for children. These small changes could dramatically improve your child’s sleep!