As a parent or caregiver, it’s hard to see your child suffer from sleep challenges. You are not alone if you are sensing some issues yet feeling at a loss for how to help.

Many children have challenges with sleep, which can include poor sleep quality, not enough sleep, and restlessness or waking up frequently during the night. The good news is that many children’s sleep improves with age. The other good news is that there are many factors in your control that can enhance your child’s sleep level and quality.

Before you can understand how to help, it first helps if you know more about how sleep works and how sleep quality can impact your child.

(See the bottom of the blog for sources that helped craft this article.)

Why Sleep is Vital for Children

Sleep is essential for your child to develop emotional, cognitive, and social skills. Sleep impacts children in many of the same ways that it does for adults. For instance, children who do not get enough sleep can have trouble thinking, staying alert, and concentrating. They may also experience changes in their mood throughout the day.

Staying at home during the pandemic is not a guarantee of better sleep.

In terms of schooling and child development, a lack of sleep interferes with a child’s ability to make friends, play, and learn. They may struggle with behavioural problems or performing day-to-day activities.

A lack of sleep or poor sleep quality will also affect the production of a child’s body hormones and chemicals which impact their ability to heal and digest food, along with other physical functions. Not to mention, it can put them at risk later in life, increasing their chances of developing problems from depression to diabetes or obesity.

While each child is unique with his or her own set of struggles and home environment, there is a great deal of research at our disposal that, while it applies to all children, can help you to address your child’s individual needs.

The below guide will provide you with beneficial insight into the science of your child’s sleep and how their bedroom environment has an impact. Along with that, you will be equipped with research-tested tips for changing and creating the best bedroom environment for your child to get the best sleep possible.

The Science of Sleep

There are four stages of sleep, and your child needs all of them:

Stage 1 - Light Sleep

Stage 2 - Moderately Deep Sleep

Stage 3 - Very Deep Sleep

Stage 4 - REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep

Two body mechanisms control sleep

Sleep-wake homeostasis also known as “sleep drive” – The need for sleep increases the longer you have been awake.

Circadian rhythm also known as your “body clock” – This rhythm in your body regulates your sleep-wake cycle. The amount of light we are exposed to between day and night regulates this rhythm, which then regulates our sleep time and changes in body temperature.

Four Key Bedroom Environment Factors

Light

Light is likely the most significant influence on your child’s sleep. But it’s not just sunlight or indoor lighting; if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s blue light that many of us tend to forget about, despite it having a significant impact on our circadian rhythm.

Like adults, children need as little blue spectrum light as possible in the two hours leading up to bed if they are going to fall asleep and stay asleep more easily. This is because the amount of blue light they take in signals their brain to keep them awake, so the brain suppresses melatonin production, which is what we need to stay and fall asleep.

Here are a few of the things blue spectrum light is produced by:

• Artificial lighting

• Electronic devices (televisions, cell phones, computer screens)

• Natural sunlight

Sources of light throughout the night, such as light coming from under their door, can impact your child’s sleep even if they are already sleeping.

It would be unrealistic to say that the only solution is to power everything down two hours before bedtime each night, which is why there are numerous other practical solutions which are just as effective and address other potential light disturbances throughout the night too.

Here are a few ways you can reduce the blue light exposure in your child’s bedroom environment:

• Use blackout curtains

• Turn off the lights in the hallway or surrounding rooms

• Use a motion-activated nightlight

Temperature

The ideal temperature for your child to sleep is between 20-22 degrees Celsius. But why is it that specific or important? It depends on your child’s circadian rhythm. Still, their core body temperature is typically the highest in the mid-afternoon around 3 p.m., and the lowest around 4 a.m. Around 3 a.m., their temperature begins to increase again to help prepare them to wake up.

Because the temperature in the bedroom combines with the temperature created by your child’s trapped body heat, the temperature can interfere with their sleep if the combined temperature is more than 22 degrees Celsius or less than 18 degrees Celsius.

Here are a few things to consider and ways to create the ideal bedroom temperature for your child:

• You might need to decrease the temperature more if your child tends toward warm flannels and pajamas (it’s all about finding a balance)

• Because it can take up to two hours for elevated core body temperature to drop, exercise and vigorous play are not recommended before bedtime as it can make it difficult for your child to sleep.

• Warm showers or baths before bed will raise their core temperature so when their temperature drops, they become sleepy.

• A programmable thermostat can help you keep your child’s bedroom under 22 degrees Celsius until around 3 a.m., then gradually warm up the room from there. Utilize fans and heaters if this is not available to you.

• Layer their bedding so your child can make his or her own adjustments, or so that you can do it easily without waking them.

Sound

For the best quality sleep, a quiet bedroom environment is essential. Sound is measured in decibels (dB), and anything above 30 (30 being whisper quiet, like a library) can cause your child to wake up.

Sounds above 60 dB (60 being a typical conversation or clothes dryer) can elicit a stress response in your child’s body that causes their heart rate, breathing rate, and stress hormones (Cortisol) to increase.

We are especially sensitive to noise while we’re asleep. Not only do noise disturbances inside or outside the bedroom (or even the home) cause awakenings, but they can prevent your child from going through all four stages of the sleep cycle. All of this can also impact your child’s mood and how tired they feel throughout the day.

Here are a few tips for creating an ideal sound environment:

• Allow them to fall asleep to music or book on tape that shuts off after 15 minutes

• Utilize white noise machines (or a white noise app), electric fans, or air conditioners

• See if they will sleep with earplugs

• Avoid using household appliances like the dishwasher while your child is sleeping

• Try soft classical or non-classical music with a tempo of 60-80 beats per minute for around 30 minutes

Bedding

Apart from a fabric feeling particularly cool or warm, we don’t tend to think about fabric as something that can interfere with our child’s sleep. Yet many synthetic materials used for pillows, mattresses, and other bedding can collect dust and allergens.

An allergen is tiny, but it can cause significant allergic reactions and trouble breathing, particularly for children who lie on their backs since the bedding is closer to their nose and mouth.

Even carpets and toys can interfere with sleep, but there’s no need to panic thinking that you have to go home and recarpet their bedroom or sneakily attempt to swap out your child’s favorite toy. As far as the floor goes, just make sure to vacuum weekly.

Here are a few other fabric and cleaning-related tips that may also help:

• Wash sheets weekly (twice a week if pets sleep with your child)

• Wash pillows, soft toys, and duvets/bedspreads monthly.

• Choose natural fabric bedding because they are easier to remove dust and allergens from. Tightly woven fabrics are a better barrier against these things, so opt for 300 thread count or greater.

Adjust, Track, and Experience

Sleep deficiency in childhood does not only interfere with mood, energy and behavior—it can interfere with your health throughout your entire life. The best way to help yourself and others have the best of both worlds is to adjust what factors you can, track any changes, and go from there.

There’s so much information to take in at first that it can seem overwhelming, but don’t stress thinking that you have to do everything all at once.

There’s nothing wrong with a simple process of elimination. Once you find something that works, stick with it.

So, take a deep breath and keep a bedroom checklist nearby because making one small change in your child’s bedroom environment can end up having a significant positive impact.