The bedroom environment
The bedroom environment plays an important role in promoting healthy sleep habits. Here are some tips to help you to make sure that your child’s bedroom supports a restful night's sleep:
- Decorate in neutral colours, avoid over stimulating bright colours.
- Check the room temperature. If the room is too hot or too cold it can disturb sleep, around 18 degrees is ideal,
- Create a gadget free zone. Using devices or watching TV before bed can suppress the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, and make it more difficult to fall asleep.
- Consider using white noise to mask out background noise.
- Put away any toys or cover them with sheets at bedtime so that they don’t provide a distraction.
- Keep the room dark to help with melatonin production. Consider using blackout blinds in the summer.
- Keep the conditions in the room consistent throughout the night are important. Avoid using products that switch off or turning lights off when you go to bed.
- Make sure the room is comfortable. The firmness of the mattress and pillows, the texture of the bedding and nightclothes are all important considerations, especially for those youngsters with sensory needs
