Sleep Hygiene

What is Sleep Hygiene? And Why Should You Care?

Sleep hygiene has become quite a buzz word…for good reason! Sleep hygiene is important, and it’s officially defined as a set of behavioural and environmental recommendations intended to promote healthy sleep. 

Simply put, sleep hygiene is the combined habits, behaviors and environment around how we fall asleep. 

Examples of GOOD sleep hygiene principles are:

• Set wake up time and bedtime

• Bedroom should ideally be between 18-20C

• Follow a predictable and calming order of activities before sleep

• Plenty of exercise during the day

• Good nutrition and eating to nourish your body

• Appropriately spaced naps

• Limited/no screens 

What you do during the day, and particularly before bed, has a major impact on how well you will sleep. While we can’t force sleep, we can create good sleep habits (good sleep hygiene) that will increase the likelihood of a good night’s sleep—this is true for adults, and for children.

If you or your little one is finding it difficult to sleep, review your sleep hygiene principles and make some adjustments. Sometimes even a small adjustment, or the addition of a good sleep hygiene principle to your routine, can dramatically increase the likelihood of a good sleep.