The old man said that the baby\’s brain grew longer when he slept; the mother said that the baby grew taller when he slept. But whether a child goes to bed early or late will also affect the child\’s growth in all aspects! Children who go to bed late or don’t get enough sleep may have growth problems! Many scientists have discovered that going to bed late or not getting enough sleep will affect children\’s cardiovascular health, brain, learning and behavioral patterns, and will be very harmful to children\’s growth: the best way to obtain growth hormone to prevent children from growing taller is in the child\’s body. During deep sleep, \”children who are deficient in growth hormone sleep less than average,\” says researcher Judith Owens of Children\’s National Medical Center in Washington. Going to bed late or not getting enough sleep is overstimulating to the body. This in turn triggers the body\’s stress response, inducing the adrenal glands to secrete a large amount of epinephrine. Adrenaline is a stress hormone that inhibits the function of the pituitary gland, causing the pituitary gland to reduce the secretion of growth hormone and preventing children from growing taller. The peak period of growth hormone secretion is from 22:00 to 1:00 am the next day. If this period is missed, cell metabolism will be affected. Therefore, parents should try to let their children go to bed before 22:00. Precocious puberty in children An eight-year-old and ten-month-old girl was diagnosed as having precocious puberty by a hospital examination. She was only 132 centimeters tall and weighed 26 kilograms, but her breasts had already developed. After careful consultation, the doctor found out that this child loved to study and was very good at English. However, he had been going to bed late for a long time. He went to bed at almost 11 o\’clock every night and got up at 6:30 the next morning. Her precocious puberty also contributed to her short stature, a consequence of overstudying. Over-learning can trigger physical and mental stress responses. Going to bed late can also stimulate the secretion of stress hormones, inhibit growth hormone activity, and affect the normal regulation of sex hormones by the pituitary gland. Therefore, children do not grow taller and suffer from precocious puberty. Making children susceptible to illness Scientists have found that children with irregular sleep are also prone to physical conditions: ① Increased risks of diabetes, obesity and heart disease Dr. Jeffrey Durmer, a sleep researcher in Atlanta, said: \”(Children with irregular sleep) blood sugar levels increase during sleep. will increase, which puts children at greater risk for diabetes, obesity and heart disease.\” Dorit Koren, a scholar at the University of Chicago who specializes in pediatric endocrinology research, said: \”Children who don\’t get enough rest are more likely to sit still, which makes their The body is even more unhealthy.\” ② The hidden dangers of cardiovascular diseases increase. Children who lack sleep are easily tired, irritable, and irritable, have difficulty calming down, and even show excessive stress reactions that prevent them from falling asleep. If you are in an overly excited state for many years, cardiovascular disease will occur. During sleep, the body produces proteins called cytokines that help us fight infection, illness, and stress and allow the body to rest and have the ability to heal itself. Affecting Intellectual Development Sleeping late or having irregular bedtimes will affect children\’s intellectual development and poor performance in learning: ① Reduced reaction ability and spatial cognition. A study of more than 10,000 7-year-old children by University College London in the United Kingdom found: If there is no relatively fixed bedtime, or the bedtime is later than 21 point, children\’s performance in reading, arithmetic, etc. will be relatively poor. Relatively speaking, girls are more affected than boys, and this impact will continue to accumulate. ② Leads to lack of attention. A study shows that children who sleep less than 10 hours before the age of 3 have a higher incidence of ADHD by the age of 6. An experiment found that if school-age children sleep an average of 27 more minutes a day, their mood and concentration performance will be greatly improved. If you want your children to sleep well, parents should do this. If you want to help your children sleep well and soundly, parents must master the following principles: 01 Go to bed when the time is up. Some parents think that as long as their children are tired from playing, they will behave themselves. Go to bed; there are also many parents who are used to going to bed late themselves, so they do not urge their children to develop the habit of sleeping on a regular basis. Good sleeping habits in children do not develop automatically and require adult assistance. Therefore, parents should start from an early age to help their children develop regular sleeping habits and ensure that their children go to bed before 9 p.m. 02 Preschool children should sleep at least 10 hours. Generally speaking, the sleep time required by preschool children per day is: ❀ Newborn: 17 to 20 hours ❀ 2 to 3 months: 15 to 18 hours ❀ 5 to 9 months: 14 ~ 16 hours ❀ 1 year old: 13 ~ 15 hours ❀ 2 ~ 3 years old: 11 ~ 13 hours ❀ 3 ~ 6 years old: 10 ~ 12 hours Only by ensuring adequate sleep can children \”clear their minds and relax their bodies\”. For growth Also very helpful. 03 Have a warm bedtime ritual. Foreign researchers have found that bedtime stories can indeed help children relax. \”Of all the activities, reading picture books is the most relaxing for children,\” says Michael Gradisar, a clinical psychologist at Flinders University. Therefore, parents can perform a ritual for their children before going to bed, such as bathing, massaging, telling stories, singing, cuddling, etc., to put the baby in a good mood and help them fall asleep easily. And fix these activities into \”programs\” that must be done before going to bed, so that he will have a fixed memory of activities before going to bed in his subconscious. 04 If a child can’t sleep, sleep disorders are not just a “patent” for adults. They can also occur in children aged 2 to 12 years old. The younger the child, the less likely they are to express themselves. If the child cannot sleep, parents should not react too aggressively. , but we should try our best to help the child eliminate the negative factors of \”insomnia\”: ① When the child is preparing to go to bed, everyone in the family needs to cooperate and try to give him a quiet environment. ②Don’t let him watch TV or play games before going to bed to avoid getting too excited. ③Warm up one hour in advance and do some quiet activities. Don’t wait until very late to start your bedtime ritual. ④The child may make a noise when he wakes up at night. Don’t worry. You can leave a night light for him and comfort him with your voice first, followed by gentle patting of the body and caressing the hands and feet to let him know that everything around him is normal and he can fall asleep again. ⑤ Don’t disrupt your work and rest during holidays, and avoid letting your children go to bed late and get up late. This is not only not conducive to the adjustment of work and rest time, but also has the opposite effect. ⑥ Avoid developing bad sleep habits such as sleeping with your baby in your arms, sleeping with your nipple (mouth) in your mouth, etc. ⑦Do not let children use computers or tablets before going to bedComputer, otherwise it will affect the secretion of melatonin in children. Reduce the light in the room to help your child get better sleep. If your child is used to going to bed late or sleeping irregularly, parents should not be overly anxious or create too much pressure on their children. Stabilizing their emotions and gradually solving the problem is the best way.
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