In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8
Sometimes bedtime for young kids doesn’t happen “in peace” as Psalm 4:8 describes and that can be frustrating for us parents. I’m one of those people who can’t function well when I’m short on sleep. As a parent I have always been motivated to try to get my kids to be good sleepers. Or at least good at staying quietly in their beds.
But what if one of the barriers to having kids that are good sleepers is the way we talk about sleep and bedtime? In a recent article Susan Turgeon suggests we should market sleep differently to our kids. She sites research that points to the value of educating children on the benefits of sleep. When they understood the importance of sleep young kids averaged 30 more minutes of sleep each night.
God created an incredibly complex organ when He made our brains. Our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made; an amazing system of organs, tissue, cells. Those cells work hard and regularly make waste. That waste is removed from our bodies through our lymphatic system. But our brains are different. God came up with a separate system for our brains. Brains are very dense and don’t have room for a separate cleaning system like the lymphatic system. Instead there is fluid that circulates and then uses the blood system in the brain to flush the brain cell waste out. But this can only happen when we sleep. God uses sleep to clean out our brains each night. Check out this TED talk for more detail.
There are lots of good things about sleep. We tend to present sleep to our kids as something that has to be done instead of something we get to do. If you find yourself talking about bedtime this way you might want to start a new marketing plan for sleep.
Throughout the day talk about how God created sleep, how we all need rest, even the fact that since kids are still growing they need more sleep than adults. Learn about why we need sleep with your kids. Then when bedtime approaches talk about it in a positive manner. Model that you look forward to sleep. Create a cozy and comforting bedtime routine. Watch your language when talking about sleep and bedtime and make sure you are using language that supports the value of sleep.
What are some other ways we can re-brand bedtime?
