Beibei is going to kindergarten soon, but she has a bad habit of staying in bed in the morning, which gives her parents a headache. In the words of Beibei's father, Beibei should always stay awake and get up. She is energetic at night, but sleepy in the morning. If mom and dad barely wake her up, Beibei, who hasn't slept enough, will immediately close her eyes and cry loudly: "I don't want to get up, I want to sleep!" "Watching Beibei cry and make trouble, mom and dad relented and had to coax Beibei:" Go to sleep, go to sleep, don't cry! ""Let Beibei pout, hold the quilt, turn around and fall asleep again. But when Beibei entered the kindergarten, her parents were in great trouble. Every night, Beibei is very excited, running around and refusing to sleep, which keeps her parents awake. In the morning, Beibei refused to get up. She can't catch the bus to pick up the children from kindergarten every day. Mom and dad had to send it by themselves, which not only made Beibei late every day, but also greatly affected her parents' work.
The latest scientific research report in the United States shows that children's lack of sleep or bad sleep habits will have a certain impact on their physical development, intellectual development and healthy growth, and adequate sleep is conducive to their healthy physical and mental development.
The height of a child is related to growth hormone, which is secreted by the pituitary gland during sleep. Enough sleep, more auxin secretion and long action time. Generally, the peak of growth hormone secretion is at 22:00 ~ 1 in the morning, accounting for 20% ~ 40% of the total secretion. At the same time, if the child doesn't sleep well and can't secrete enough growth hormone, it will affect the child's cognitive ability in various aspects such as attention and memory. Children in early childhood sleep irregularly, which will lead to the disorder of secretion system and have a bad influence on the subsequent character formation.
Therefore, parents should take sleep as the center and rearrange all the daily life of their children. Not only should children develop the good habit of going to bed early and getting up early, but also pay attention to the quality of children's sleep and grasp the opportunity of growth and development during sleep. But many children don't want to sleep at night and stay in bed in the morning, which makes many parents very embarrassed. In fact, it is not difficult for children to develop the habit of going to bed early and getting up early.
Factors that hinder children from developing normal work and rest habits
There are many cases where children have irregular work and rest, such as not sleeping at night and not getting up in the morning; Even if I go to bed early at night, I like to stay in bed in the morning; Sleep irregularly, sometimes get up early, sometimes get up late and so on.
There are many reasons that prevent children from developing normal work and rest habits. For example, parents usually go to bed very late, which may affect their children's sleeping habits. Or children exercise less during the day, go to bed late at night, and get too excited before going to bed, resulting in going to bed late. It is also possible that the child feels uncomfortable or in a bad mood, which will lead to the child's lack of sleep and bed rest, and it is difficult for the child to form good work and rest habits.
Establish a reasonable life schedule.
Parents should arrange a reasonable life schedule system for their children, and let them know when to do something, unless there are special circumstances, don't change it. Make some preparations before going to bed at a fixed time every day, such as taking a bath, brushing your teeth, changing your pajamas and peeing. Don't tell him to sleep immediately after entering the room. You can tell stories, talk, read picture books and hum children's songs together, but don't choose content that will make children excited, excited, afraid or curious. If the child likes it, he can lie in bed with his beloved doll or teddy bear and accompany him. Before tucking the child in, you'd better ask him again, "Do you have anything else?" It is easy to understand children's psychological activities.
Cong Cong has some procedures before going to bed, and after a long time, it becomes a habit. For example, bathing before going to bed is Cong Cong's favorite project. No matter what the weather is, she will take a shower or bath before going to bed, enjoy the warm feeling very comfortably, and then sleep soundly. Brush your teeth after taking a hot bath, talk to your mother for 5 minutes before going to bed or listen to her bedtime stories. After the story was finished, Cong Cong went to the bathroom, then went back to the child's room, snuggled up in bed and kissed his mother good night, and then fell asleep soon.
Children's sleep needs will be less and less as they get older, and parents should adjust their bedtime or nap time as they get older. The following table is a general sleep time designed by experts according to children's age characteristics for parents' reference. It should be noted that each child's individual situation is different, and parents must fully consider their children's sleep habits. If the child gets enough sleep and is forced to sleep by his parents when he doesn't want to sleep, it will make the child feel resistant. Not only does it not play a role in rest, it is likely to disrupt the child's own biological clock. As long as children are energetic, happy, have a good appetite, grow and develop normally, and sleep soundly during the day, it is normal even if they lack sleep every day.
How to help children develop healthy work and rest?
The formation of healthy work and rest habits will not happen overnight. Parents should set an example and create a good sleeping environment for their children. Decorate a beautiful small room for children, put some tender photos and cartoon pictures on the wall, design the small bed into the style that children like, put the toys that children usually like by the bed, make the whole small room warm and unique, full of childlike interest, and let children like their own independent space. At the same time, we should also pay attention to the quiet and comfortable sleeping environment, keep the indoor light comfortable and quiet during sleeping time, and don't make any noise. Don't watch TV when the child is ready to sleep, or you won't be able to sleep peacefully.
Children are too excited at night, which is also a reason for staying up late. At this time, we suggest parents and children play some quiet games together, such as the game of "flying insects". This game is especially suitable for babies to play before going to bed. Long-term persistence, as part of the bedtime ceremony, allows the baby to fall asleep naturally every day.
Mother and baby each hold out an index finger, then swing the extended index finger face to face and recite the children's song "Little flying insect, little flying insect, please stop quickly, stop where, stop where, stop on the baby's nose". When reading Where to Stop, the outstretched fingers of mother and baby touch each other. When reading "Stop on the baby's nose", both the mother and the baby pointed their fingers at the baby's nose for a while and told the baby that "the little nose can't move". Then say "stop at the baby's mouth", stop your finger at the baby's mouth and let the mouth close. Say "stop in the baby's eyes", stop your finger on the baby's eyes and let the baby close his eyes. It can also be said that "stop on the baby's arm" and the arm can't move; "Stop on the baby's calf", the calf can't move. The baby can't move all over, go to sleep!
Some children who stay up late may not be used to sleeping alone or afraid of the dark, so parents should pay attention to helping their children overcome their fear of loneliness and darkness. Before going to bed at night, parents can accompany their children to talk and tell stories, and guide them to know the night and understand it. It's a good idea to play hand shadow games at this time. Just turn off the lights at home at night, leaving only a small light, and you can play with your children; If it is daytime, you can close the curtains and lights at home, turn on the flashlight and shine on the wall. Mother first demonstrates how to make different hand shadows with both hands, and then lets the children learn together. After playing for a while, turn off the flashlight. At this time, the child will find that the shadow exists only because of the existence of light. If there is no light, it will become a dark world and nothing can be seen. Besides teaching your child about the night, you can also install a nightlight in your child's room to give him a little light at night and help him overcome his fear of the dark.
Similarly, an unreasonable diet before going to bed will also affect children's sleep. Therefore, we should adhere to the principle of "eat enough for breakfast, eat well for lunch and eat less for dinner" for children. If you eat too much dinner or eat too many calories, your child will toss and turn because of gastrointestinal discomfort. In this way, you will get up very late the next morning. This vicious circle is very bad for children's health. Therefore, dinner should be finished two hours before going to bed. If you are too hungry to sleep, parents can let their children eat some high-protein midnight snacks, such as cheese, eggs, bean products, milk and so on.
How to wake up children naturally
Medical research has proved that only when a person wakes up naturally will he feel refreshed and full of energy all day. When children don't wake up at normal time, parents can wake them up in time and use interesting activities to dispel their drowsiness.
This is especially true for preschool children, helping them adapt as soon as possible. Therefore, our parents can use some thoughts to create some atmosphere and skillfully let their children wake up naturally.
Here are some simple ways to wake up children. Visual awakening method: light change is the best natural alarm clock. Open the curtains and let the light illuminate the child's eyes, so that the child can easily wake up. Smell awakening method: use the delicious food to open children's appetite, or open a small crack in the window to let fresh air or flowers float into the room, and children will wake up with a wonderful sense of smell.
Auditory awakening method: In the early morning, parents deliberately make some natural sounds in their children's rooms. This kind of sound is natural, not deliberately created like an alarm clock, so children will not be very disgusted, and this kind of sound can naturally wake up children.
Tactile awakening method: parents put their hands into their children's quilts, gently touch them up along their little feet, and read children's songs by clicking. The specific ways to wake up children are as follows:
Open the door of the child's bedroom and let the sound from outside come in naturally.
Open the curtains and a small window to let light and fresh air into the room. If the child hasn't woken up at this time, he can walk around the room or tidy up his toys and make some moderate noises.
If the child is not awake, you can kiss the child's small forehead and face. Reach into the quilt, touch his little feet and massage the child. At this time, you can wake up the child in a gentle tone: "The baby's little feet are awake." Touch the baby's calf again and say, "The baby's calf is awake, too." Then touch the baby's thighs and stomach until you touch the baby's little face, saying that the baby's thighs are awake, the baby's belly is awake, and the baby's little face is awake.
Repeat this several times and the child will wake up. After seeing the baby open his eyes, you can look at the baby and say in a pleasant voice, "Baby, you are awake. Did you sleep well? "
If the baby doesn't want to get up and get dressed, you can find him or her some clothes and let the baby choose which one to wear. Meanwhile, you can say to Doby Baby, "This little dress is really nice. Mom wants to see what you are wearing. Come, let's get dressed. "
After getting dressed, you can say to the baby again, "Baby, we are all dressed. Get up. We can't lie down. Let's go. Mom will take you to wash your face and brush your teeth." In this way, the day's activities began. If the child has unexplained irritability and poor appetite during the day, it may cause insufficient sleep. Or children are easy to wake up when sleeping, always turn over and sleep uneasily, which may be caused by the lack of some nutrients. At this time, parents should find out the reasons and deal with them in time to improve the baby's sleep quality. Starting from infancy, we should pay attention to cultivating children's reasonable schedule of work and rest, and persistently help children form a normal biological clock, which will benefit children for life.
(Excerpted from 50 Things Children Must Learn Before Going to School (Classic Edition)-edited by Wang Xingcheng)