Sleep
Did you know that getting enough sleep can make you feel healthier and happier?
Sleep supports your body and mind recover from your day, and can make your concentration and focus much better. Not getting enough sleep can affect your mood, and can make you feel depressed and anxious.
Why is sleep so important? +
- Recover and prepare – Sleep helps our bodies and our minds to recover from the day and prepare for tomorrow. Too little sleep and those tomorrows will be tougher.
- Sleep promotes a healthy mind – Scientists have found that there’s a strong relationship between getting enough sleep and feeling well and happy. Not getting enough sleep can cause low mood and even make depression and anxiety worse.
- Focus – Scientists have shown that having a good sleep will help you concentrate during the day and also helps your brain to organise and store the information you have learned during the day. Clever.
How much sleep do you need? +
The Sleep Council recommend the following hours of sleep according to your age:
- 10-11 hours of sleep a night for 7-12 year olds
- 8-9 hours of sleep for 12-18 year olds.
The above is a useful guide but it can vary by person and the changes your body is going through. If you feel tired during the day and lack energy, it maybe that you are not getting enough sleep. Check out healthy sleep tips here:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/healthy-sleep-tips-for-children/
If you’re a parent or carer of a child or young person with additional needs who struggles with sleep, visit the page below for information and advice and/or take a look at the signposting information on this page:
https://thesleepcharity.org.uk/information-support/children/children-with-send/
Worried you’re not getting enough sleep? +
If you feel that you are not sleeping well most nights, struggling with waking up and with day to day activities, then you may need to talk to someone like your GP to get yourself checked out. What you eat and drink can also have an impact on sleep, and if you struggle to get enough sleep you may want to try to avoid drinking tea, coffee and other caffeine products, particularly with meals.
There is a link below to the British Dietetic Association which provides a fact sheet on food and mood:
https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/food-facts-food-and-mood.html
Useful information
How much sleep do you really need?
How much sleep do you need? A short film from Life Noggin.
Why do you sleepwalk?
A short (and super fun) film about sleep walking (‘somnambulism’) from Life Noggin.
The Sleep Charity
The Sleep Charity is here to help you with your sleep problems. The website features information and resources, including sleep tips, advice sheets and podcasts. They’ve also created a dedicated website (teensleephub.org.uk) for young people with an e-book, videos, downloads and more available.
The National Sleep Helpline can be accessed by young people, or parents or carers of children aged 12 months+.
Call 9am – 11am on Mondays – Thursdays and 7pm – 9pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Tel: 03303 530 541
Tonnau Talks – Sleep Webinar
Tonnau Talks is a series of free online sessions brought to you by Neath Port Talbot Council’s Tonnau Team, the Educational Psychology Service, to help you feel more confident supporting the children and young people in your life.
This webinar focuses on exploring what sleep is, why it is important for children and parents and how we can improve our sleep using a multitude of strategies.
Neurodivergence Wales – sleep information
Neurodivergence Wales offers a range of pages, resources and virtual advice sessions (live and pre-recorded webinars) to help parents and carers support neurodiverse children and young people.
Specialist information relating to sleep issues, including information, on-demand webinars and advice sheets can be found on the site.
Cerebra – Sleep Advice Service
Cerebra understands that if you have one child that doesn’t sleep, the whole family suffers. Our range of sleep resources will help your child, and everyone in your family, get a good night’s sleep.
Our guides, webinars, online training and one-to-one support (Sleep Advice Service) can help parents or carers of children with neurodevelopmental conditions who struggle with sleep.