Negative Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Children
If you doubt the importance of sleep, you need only study the impact of sleep disorders, sleep deprivation, and insomnia on the health of children.
For children who can’t sleep, the damaging effects can be long-lasting. For parents of insomniacs, the news (linked below) is not a good bedtime story. It’s enough to make any parent lose sleep.
- Sleep disorders can lead to brain cell damage in kids
- Sleep disorders are linked to ADHD and hyperactivity
- Kids with sleep disorders are more likely to perform poorly on IQ tests
- Kids with sleep disorders have a higher risk for obesity in early adolescence
- Kids with sleep disorders have a higher risk for depression, anxiety and learning problems
Can Bedtime Stories Help?
Bedtime stories are not a medical cure for serious sleep disorders. However, they can play an important part in creating sleep hygiene for children. Sleep hygiene basically refers to establishing healthy habits that promote a good night’s sleep. This can include setting a regular bedtime for children as well as reading bedtime stories that relax and comfort children.
More often than not, bedtime stories are a positive addition to any bedtime routine. Children look forward to bedtime stories as a bonding experience with a parent or grandparent. There is new research on the many benefits of bedtime stories, including the improvement of children’s language skills, memory skills, motor skills, social skills, and overall development. And with so many negative effects of insomnia and sleep disorders, bedtime stories may be more important than ever.