Did you know that we can survive three times as long without food as we can without sleep?
It’s not something I’m about to set out to prove as I can’t last very long without either to be honest. Skipping breakfast following a fitful night’s sleep is a major game changer for me. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief once I’ve had my granola and 40 winks...
That’s how essential sleep is. It sets the tone for your day, your week and - depending on how you sleep as a child - it can set the tone for your whole life according to Dr Hilary Jones.
This week is National Childhood Obesity Week and Dr Hilary has been driving home the message that enforcing an early bedtime during childhood can massively decrease the chances of becoming obese in later life.
He said: “Children that go to bed at a regular time, earlier than other children, are half as likely to be obese in later life than those who go to bed late.
“There is also tendency for children in the first year of life to be overfed. When the baby is crying parents might say ‘here’s a bottle, it’s not quite time for bed yet’, when in fact that is not a good practice as they will sleep longer if put to bed earlier.”
Hmm, sounds good in theory doesn’t it but I’m sure Dr Hilary would have turned to the bottle (and fed the baby…) had he popped into my house at bedtime when my girls were babies.
Aaaaanyway, thank goodness those days are behind me and I can now enjoy a more structured bedtime routine - which I will now attempt to make a little earlier if Dr Hilary says I must. It’s not that I fancy a little more time to myself or anything. Ahem.
To all you mums with very young children however, night time IS a very bumpy road that seems longer than an eternal trip around the M25 at rush hour.
But believe me, you will be sitting on your sofa one peaceful evening in a few year’s time and suddenly realise that those crazy days have rolled themselves neatly into a fuzzy, surreal, other worldly sort of nightmare daydream. Life, as you once knew it, resumed when you weren’t looking.
Just make sure you invest in some sturdy, stylish and solidly dependable children’s beds to see you through. Just click here to see how to make your night time an altogether more pleasant one...
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