Washington Park Chiropractic

By Dr. Lisa Goodman, DC

Over and over again when I am around a child who is lets say “cranky” I casually ask their parents when they go to sleep.  The answer is generally after 8pm and then the crankiness makes sense.  The time a child goes to sleep is just the beginning of healthy sleep habits.  Also important are the duration of sleep and the sleep quality.

Sleeping Toddler

As the mother of a 2 1/2 year old and another one on the way, sleep has become a hot topic at home and in my practice.  There are many ways to teach good sleep habits and I will suggest a few here, but the most important things to accomplish are:

1. Sleep at an early time – even 6:30!

2. Plenty of sleep – 12+ hours and never waking before 7am!

3. Restful sleep

Healthy sleep habits will lead to a child with better concentration, better mood and better temperament.  Infants and children need between 12-16  hours of sleep per day!  There are so many opinions about sleep and how to encourage it, but the method I used was absolutely, hands-down so easy and effective.  I strongly recommend that parents of infants and toddlers who need help with sleep refer to the full resource: http://www.sleepsense.net/ but I have included a few nuggets below.  Keep Reading: Read the rest of this entry →

Children and Stress
“Children today are responding to emotional stressors in ways that we can’t imagine…”
We don’t typically associate childhood with stress. Children don’t have bills to pay, demanding jobs or kids of their own to worry over, so why would children possibly be stressed? This may be how we think, but the sad fact is that children today are being diagnosed with high-anxiety, depression and a myriad of other psychological disorders resulting in more children being on psychosomatic drugs now than ever.

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