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Night Terrors in Children

January 28, 2013 by Amber Merton

Image Source: childrensdayton.org

Has your child ever had an episode during sleep that included intense crying, kicking, thrashing, sweating, breathing quickly, rapidly beating heart rate, screaming loudly, getting out of bed and running throughout the house, being difficult to waken, or experiencing a profound fear? If so, your child probably had a night terror, also referred to as a sleep terror.

Who Experiences Night Terrors?

Up to 6 percent of children have a night terror at one time or another, according to WebMD. Children between the ages of three to 12 years are the most likely to get them. Although night terrors in adults are also an undesired sleep disorder, they occur in a far less percentage in adults than children. Fortunately, most children outgrow their night terrors by the time they reach their teens. If you’re a parent of a child who has night terrors, you should know that in most cases, night terrors in children aren’t a cause for a concern, albeit scary to witness.

Foods That Help You Sleep

January 23, 2013 by Amber Merton

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Most of us know that we should avoid caffeine and alcohol before bedtime because both can interfere with the quality of sleep. But are there foods that help you sleep? According to Dr. Michael J. Breus, Certified Sleep Specialist, the answer to that question is yes! From cherries to oatmeal to warm milk, here are six foods and beverages that can help you get more shut eye tonight.

Sleep Promoting Foods

1) Cherries – According to a study reported in the Journal of Experimental Botany, cherries are a natural source of melatonin, which is often referred to as the “sleep hormone” because it helps control your body’s internal clock needed to regulate sleep. While fresh cherries are only in season (and thus less expensive) for about two months of the year (June and July), tart cherry juice and dried cherries are excellent substitutes when purchasing fresh cherries tends to break the bank. According to Dr. Oz, montmorency tart cherries have six times the melatonin content than a normal cherry, so look for those for the most benefit.

Sleep Diary

January 21, 2013 by Amber Merton

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Everyone needs a good night’s sleep each and every night. Unfortunately, for a large segment of the population that is a rare commodity. While there are some who would argue that the time spent sleeping is time you cannot enjoy some of the more entertaining aspects of life, sleep actually improves the quality of your life and may even help improve your life expectancy. If you’re having trouble sleeping, keeping a sleep diary can help you manage your sleep a little better now and in the future.

Benefits of Adequate Sleep

There are many benefits that you get from a proper amount of sleep that most people don’t really understand until after they’ve gone through a fairly significant period of sleep deprivation at least once. As you age, the side effects of a sleepless night become much more pronounced and harder to overcome. These benefits include: improved mood and temperament, a brain that’s more receptive to learning, improved immunity, better alertness, increased balance, and more energy.

How Light Affects Sleep

January 11, 2013 by Amber Merton

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You’ve probably heard people who work late night shifts in hospitals, fire stations, restaurants, or on the road protecting our streets talk about how light during the day has a negative impact on their ability to get a decent amount of restful sleep. But, did you know there is a real reason behind it? It’s not merely a preference for darkness that’s robbing them of the recuperative sleep they need in order to wake up refreshed and ready to face the day. But why does light have such a profound impact on sleep and what can people who work these necessary late shifts do to get the kind of sleep they need?

Why Does Light Negatively Impact Sleep?

“In the presence of light, your brain will not produce melatonin,” says Dr. Michael Breus, PhD, Sleep Specialist: On the surface that doesn’t seem like such a profoundly negative thing. However, melatonin is one of the vital hormones that plays a significant role in helping people not only fall asleep but also to remain asleep throughout the night. If a room has too much light, that makes things much more difficult for anyone looking to get a proper amount of sleep.

Bedroom Color Ideas

January 8, 2013 by Amber Merton

Sleep is something that many people around the world find to be elusive. Unfortunately, it’s also something that’s necessary for sustaining quality of life as well as optimal health and mental well-being. In other words, it’s vitally important. Oddly enough, something as simple as your bedroom color scheme can have a significant impact on just how restful your bedroom really is. Here are a few things you should know about bedroom colors, at least as far as restful sleep is concerned, before you start decorating.

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Colors Suggest Moods

One of the most common issues people have with sleep is difficulty falling asleep due to an abundance of heat (pitta) that is built up in the body. With this in mind, it makes sense that bedrooms decorated with cool colors such as blues, greens, and even some shades of purple, would create a better mood for sleep than bedrooms decorated with warm reds, yellows, and oranges. The warmer colors may create a warm and cozy atmosphere in the room, but in the long run the warmer colors could have a significantly negative impact on the overall restfulness of the room.

Not only do soothing cool colors impact the restful mood of the room, but they also serve to lower your blood pressure and your heart rate—at least according to Shape Magazine. This makes it easier for you to relax and get the sleep your body requires.

Does Sleeping Help You Grow?

January 4, 2013 by Amber Merton

Image Source: growtaller.com

You’ve probably heard, more than once, that sleep is vital for the growth of healthy children. The scientific community has known for a long time that the hours while the body is sleeping are not idle hours where it literally turns itself off. These are hours when the body is performing critical functions that help children grow. But why is it so important for children?

The Importance of Sleep for Children

Dr. Cara Natterson, a pediatrician and graduate of John Hopkins School of Medicine and Harvard University, provides important insight as to why age factors into the need for more sleep:

“Sleep is a critical ingredient to good growth, and the amount of sleep we need depends upon our age,” says Dr. Natterson. “Little babies, newborns, and infants get somewhere around 16 hours of sleep for every 24 hours, give or take. Toddlers need about 14 hours of sleep in every 24 hours.”

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There’s just so much going on during those hours of sleep that the body cannot accomplish during waking hours.

Guided Imagery for Sleep

January 3, 2013 by Amber Merton

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It’s a busy world we live in today. Thanks to advancements in technology, we seem to be always connected. Add that to the stress of dealing with a demanding job, worrying about our children or aging parents, or concern over a health condition either for ourselves and a loved one, and there’s no surprise that some of us have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was some tool that could relax our minds and let go of our stress and worries to fall into a peaceful deep sleep? Well there is, and it’s called guided imagery.

What is Guided Imagery for Sleep?

Have you ever “counted sheep” to help you to fall asleep? If so, you were practicing guided imagery without even knowing it. In a nutshell, guided imagery is a relaxation technique where one’s thoughts are purposely redirected through imagination and visualization to achieve a desired goal. While this goal is commonly to help with falling asleep, it’s also used to help adults cope with a serious health condition, such as cancer, manage stress, depression, pain, and anxiety. It’s also a helpful technique for children, particularly in helping to chase away their fears.

Benefits of Guided Imagery for Sleep

Using guided imagery for sleep disturbances can help both adults and children alike find a soothing, relaxing, and comforting way to drift off to sleep. As a directed form of visualization, guided imagery is based on the thought that the body and mind are connected. By tapping into one’s own imagination, guided imagery can relax oneself into a soothing slumber.

Sounds to Sleep To

December 27, 2012 by Amber Merton

Image Source: Guardian.co.uk

Sleep is a precious commodity in many households around the world. For some people, it’s falling asleep in the first place. For others, it’s managing to remain asleep that’s the problem. One of the more common causes of problem sleeping is distractions brought on by noise in the environment. That’s why many people are beginning to take matters into their own hands in order to find sounds they sleep to so that they can ignore the sounds that tend to wake them up or keep them up at night.

What Sounds Distract from Restful Sleep?

Knowing how important it is to get a good night’s sleep only seems to pile on the pressure some nights when your brain is hijacked by every random noise of stray thought that crosses paths with it. Some of the sounds that may be preventing you from getting the sleep you so desperately need include:

Barking dogs
Dripping water faucets
Traffic
Trains
Garbage trucks
Street sweepers
Sirens
Noisy Neighbors

Of course there are plenty more sounds that might be making a difference in your own little corner of the world, but these noises are some of the most commonly complained about.

What Sleep Does for the Body

December 21, 2012 by Amber Merton

Image Source: amazing-glutathione.com

Sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your physical and mental health and well-being. Failing to get an adequate amount of sleep can limit the body’s ability to heal itself, recover from wounds, and even lead to premature aging. The bottom line is that sleep is necessary for the body and mind to function properly.

What Happens While You’re Sleeping?

We all know that the body needs sleep. The sleep cycle is important time for your body to restore and recover what’s lost during the day. Young children, especially, require large amounts of sleep because that’s the time when the growth hormone is released in the body. Cellular damage from the sun is also repaired while you’re sleeping. This includes things like wrinkle reduction and collagen production—which is why it’s sleep is commonly referred to as “beauty rest”.

Make Sleep a Priority: My New Years Resolution

December 20, 2012 by Anni M.

Image source: Signaturemd.com

Every year I make a new resolution—to exercise more, lose weight, save more money, spend more time with family, or keep my house cleaner—and every year I find myself struggling to meet my goals. I’m not alone. Statistics show that by mid January half of Americans have already given up their resolutions. Clearly there are many reasons for this but I think the main reason is that we set unrealistic goals. I know I’m a messy person. It’s just in my nature. When I make my resolutions, I don’t aim for achievable goals like putting away my laundry right after I wash it. I aim for lofty goals, like organizing every closet, dusting weekly, and never letting an item of clothing sit unfolded. I have a busy life and I just can’t possibly keep this up without a complete personality overhaul. Short of mood-altering drugs, this isn’t going to happen. This year, I’m setting a simple, achievable goal for myself: take steps to get better sleep.

Read More // TAGS: New Year, resolution, rest, sleep

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Tag Archives: Sleep

Night Terrors in Children

Who Experiences Night Terrors?

Foods That Help You Sleep

Sleep Promoting Foods

Sleep Diary

Benefits of Adequate Sleep

How Light Affects Sleep

Why Does Light Negatively Impact Sleep?

Bedroom Color Ideas

Colors Suggest Moods

Does Sleeping Help You Grow?

The Importance of Sleep for Children

Guided Imagery for Sleep

What is Guided Imagery for Sleep?

Benefits of Guided Imagery for Sleep

Sounds to Sleep To

What Sounds Distract from Restful Sleep?

What Sleep Does for the Body

What Happens While You’re Sleeping?

Make Sleep a Priority: My New Years Resolution

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Tag Archives: Sleep

Who Experiences Night Terrors?

Sleep Promoting Foods

Benefits of Adequate Sleep

Why Does Light Negatively Impact Sleep?

Colors Suggest Moods

The Importance of Sleep for Children

What is Guided Imagery for Sleep?

Benefits of Guided Imagery for Sleep

What Sounds Distract from Restful Sleep?

What Happens While You’re Sleeping?

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