This belief is that sleep is supposed to be restorative. It gives your body a chance to settle down, lower its blood pressure and replenish – so to speak – its reserves for another day of living. If you don’t sleep, you can be vulnerable to many illnesses.

Researchers in the United States studied a group of 153 healthy men and women who had no signs or symptoms of a cold. The participants kept track of how long and well they slept over a two-week period. After the two weeks, the group was quarantined and exposed to a cold virus through a nasal spray.

The findings, which were published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine, showed that the subjects who slept an average of fewer than seven hours a night were more likely to catch the cold than those who slept an average of eight hours per night. In fact, those who slept less had a three times higher risk of getting sick.

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Image: MorgueFile.com

Post from: Blisstree

Get More Sleep, Maybe Avoid a Cold

I have always been a believer in wearing kids out for the benefit of a swift and peaceful bedtime. Now a University of Ackland, New Zealand, study shows that there is some truth to that belief. The study’s lead author, Dr. Ed A. Mitchell, looked at 591 seven-year-olds and found that kids who spent more time in sedentary activities took longer to fall asleep after they went to bed. The study also showed that one in six parents of school-aged kids say their children have trouble falling to sleep at night.

Most children take about 26 minutes to fall asleep once they hit the bed at night. If the child has been active during the day, the less time it takes for him to nod off. As much as one hour of vigorous activity can shave as much as 6 minutes off a kid’s fall-asleep time. The study also showed that children who fall asleep faster tend to stay asleep longer.

Ingenious? Maybe. But I’ve found if my son goes to bed too exhausted he tends to wake up more during the night and sometimes has frightening night terrors.

Source, ABC News
Photo, JWJourney

Post from: Blisstree

Study: Vigorous Activity Helps Kids Sleep

“You should never go to bed angry.”

This is one of the marriage fallacies that I believed in for the first few months – but quickly grew to realize that it is like telling someone to keep driving when they  are tired. If you are arguing right before bed, then that was just poor form on your part. But it happens – sometimes because one of you just felt like you had to get something off your chest. Other times, because something happened unexpectedly that’s out of your control.

Image: stock.xchng

Either way, you’re arguing…and you’re tired. The result, is more than likely going to be…

• incoherent
• emotional
• damaging

Maybe none of these things are beyond repair in the short term (or even the long run), but I firmly believe you are taking a big risk by trying to have a rational discussion right before bed.

I say, forget about what “they” say and make a pact with your spouse to be able to say to the other person “let’s talk about this in the morning” and each of you respect that. This should not be used as a cop-out (if you say those words at 6pm, he/she might not appreciate it) but instead, needs to be your commitment to one another that at a certain hour the risk of being too cranky/tired to rein in your frustration and not say something hurtful. The same issue will probably be there in the morning – but don’t force yourself to resolve it…or worse yet – let it go…just to appease words of wisdom that are way too black and white for all the blurred lines and grey areas in a marriage.

Post from: Blisstree

Going To Bed Angry Is Not A Bad Thing

The biggest factor in my decision to allow night lights, is my own childhood experiences. I also hated the dark. I still do. I used to hide my head under the blankets, because I was so afraid of seeing anything scary looking in my room. I fell asleep every night, with fear in my heart. It was an awful feeling. I do not want my kids to feel the same. I think that slumber should be a peaceful event, beginning with a feeling of security while they drift off.

Is my practice of turning on a night light and enabling my children to be dependent on a night light, going to have a negative effect on their adulthood? Do you allow your kids to use a night light or other comfort measure? Why or why not?

Post from: Blisstree

Calming Fears, Or Feeding Bad Habits?

After their teeth are squeaky clean, they scramble to pick out an outfit for the upcoming day. The children’s father usually helps them select one that fits and matches, which is no small feat! While they look, they talk about the day and their goals for the week.

After clothing is selected, reading time begins. Everyone grabs a book and heads to their favorite reading spot.

When the clock strikes eight, the children scurry to their beds for a song, a prayer and a kiss goodnight.

Once in awhile, the smallest of the bunch, tries to pull some bedtime shenanigans. It never lasts long, though! He looks forward to his song and knows that his mama will not sing unless he is in his bed.

At eight fifteen, every night, the lights go out and the children drift off to sleep with narry a peep. Sound like a fairy tale? It isn’t. It is the fruit of many years of bed time training and working to establish a bed time ritual that the kids look forward to. There have been nights that seemed like the kids would never get to sleep. There are sick nights, when nobody gets a wink. There are nightmares that result in a master bedroom full of Prescotts. On the whole, however, our night time routine is just about the only thing that goes off without a hitch, in this house. It is what allows Daniel and I to spend time alone. It is also one of the reasons that I have time to do all of the writing that I enjoy so much. We may not do a lot of things exceedingly well, but bedtime is one aspect of our parenting that I am extremely proud of! What is a parenting practice that you are proud of?

Post from: Blisstree

Goodnight Without A Fight