Taking proper care of kids is a huge responsibility. Especially, concerns related to their health are way more disturbing. Nowadays, kids do not sleep on time at night. Instead, they keep trying to delay it. It happens because they are exposed to light at night too. Exposition to light at night affects the production of melatonin levels in their body.
Melatonin is a hormone produced in the pineal gland at night. Your brain gives a signal to the gland after confirming darkness and nighttime. Once it orders the gland to start creating it, the gland begins its production, which forces you to sleep. This naturally found material in the body is also made in laboratories. Therefore, if melatonin level decreases in your body, you can use lab-made supplements like melatonin gummies by Gummies Garden, Natrol and Vitafusion.
Poor sleep patterns in kids is an indication of low melatonin production. You need to have a check on their melatonin level by visiting a doctor. The melatonin level can be increased by using medicines, but it is recommended to try escalating it naturally to avoid side effects. Here are some tips that will surely help you to increase melatonin production in your kids.
Reduce Blue light exposure before bed-time:
Artificial light emits blue rays that signal the brain for day time. It includes T.V., iPad, mobiles, Laptops, Computers, Energy bulbs, etc. Usage of all these things affects the melatonin production in your body. Our brain gets confused between artificial light and natural light when it is expecting darkness at night. To keep your children safe and to increase melatonin levels in your kids, you must take all those stuff emitting artificial light away from your children and turn off lights in their rooms.
This tip will work to a major extent and may solve many of your problems relating to your kids’ melatonin levels.
Eat Melatonin enriched stuff:
The best way to naturally increase the melatonin level in your kids is to use healthy eating options, primarily focusing on melatonin-rich foods. Make sure to insist your children eat Bananas, almonds, berries, pineapples, oranges, etc., because these eating options are rich in melatonin. Consult a doctor or nutritionist and have a detailed talk with him about increasing your kids’ melatonin levels by altering their diet.
While insisting your children eat melatonin enriched stuff, you must know the other type of food, which is responsible for keeping their melatonin levels low. That stuff mainly includes spicy food, high sugar drinks, alcohol-containing food, and caffeine-containing food. Usually, eating heavy food before bedtime also disturbs the sleep pattern. So try to keep it lighter in the dinner and avoid the bad stuff mentioned above.
Increase exposure to sunlight:
Our body has a set circadian rhythm, according to which the sleeping routine of our body is set. The circadian rhythm works with the interaction of our brain with natural sunlight and maintains a clock of its own. Sunlight in the morning time is healthier than its peak in the afternoon. Encourage your children to wake up early and get some early morning sunlight. If it is not possible, then at least try to get some in the afternoon in the lunch break at school. If your children are at home in the afternoon, then you can send them outside in the park to play there and absorb some sunlight.
This exposure to sunlight will surely help your child’s brain keep a note and decide when to order the pineal gland to produce melatonin.
Try using a weighted blanket for your kids:
Melatonin is linked with serotonin. In fact, both of them are directly proportional to each other. By increasing one, the other increases automatically. Weighted blankets put pressure on the body’s sensory receptors, create a peaceful effect on the body’s nervous system, and adjust hormone production.
Researchers have noticed that by using a weighted blanket, serotonin production increases by almost 28%. As melatonin production is directly proportional to serotonin production, increased serotonin means an increase in melatonin level in your children’s body. This is a reason why weighted blankets are encouraged to increase the melatonin level in your kids.
Keep your children’s bedroom dark and have a check on their stress level:
Keeping your children’s bedroom dark indicates their brains that it is night and time to rest. Hence, their brain will automatically start ordering the pineal gland to produce melatonin, and their sleeping schedule would get better. Not only for kids but adults too; bedrooms should be darker than the living room.
On the other hand, cortisol is also a hormone that is inversely proportional to melatonin. Its production is high in the daytime and low at night. Production of melatonin only starts once cortisol starts decreasing. If your child is having some stress, his cortisol level won’t decrease, resulting in less production of melatonin. Therefore, soothing children with bedtime stories, lullabies, a warm hug, and a good night kiss will surely help.
