Tired children have more accidents
Introduction
New research suggests a good night’s sleep can prevent accidental injuries in young children…
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Poor sleep a recipe for boo-boos!
No, you aren’t imagining that your toddler or preschooler is way more clumsy when she’s tired! New research that compares moms’ reports of how much sleep their child gets with medical records of their injuries proves that accidental injuries tend to correlate with insufficient sleep.
Almost 30% of the children in the study, carried out by researchers at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, sustained a grand total of 125 accidental injuries, mostly through falling or bumping into things. Just under half of the children were getting inadequate sleep (around 11 hours a night for kids this age, according to the National Sleep Foundation).
Ensuring your child gets the sleep she needs to keep her alert enough to avoid accidents can be easier said than done
Most parents will be familiar with the bedtime battles that come with toddlers and preschoolers – and even if you can get them to settle at a reasonable hour they often suffer from sleep disturbances, such as nightmares, and wake depressingly early!
Bedtime will run much more smoothly with a set bedtime routine that helps your child learn sleep cues from a young age. If your child is regularly waking during the night, try to work out what might be disturbing her. This might involve a process of elimination – so for example, if you think she might be waking because she’s hungry give her her evening meal a tad later or try giving her a snack before bedtime; if it’s fear of the dark try using a night light; if it’s noise from outside try muffling it with heavy drapes.
Preschoolers are prone to nightmares but try to avoid letting your child sleep in with you if she has one, as this might interfere with her ability to fall asleep again by herself. As a rule, with any night-time disturbance you need to aim to get your child settled down again with a minimum of fuss so she gets the ZZZs she needs. If you do need to go to her, keep it low-key, with as little interaction as possible.
Supernanny Team
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