We think you will all agree with us when we say that trying to get our little ones to bed at a reasonable time on a school night is particularly tough. Don’t give up, though, mums – new research has proven that being a little bit strict can pay off.
According to research carried out by researchers in Canada, enforcing bedtime rules can actually help children to hit their target of recommended sleep on weekdays.
As part of the research, experts from Public Health Ontario analysed self-reported data from more than 1,600 parents. Each parent who participated had at least one child under the age of 18.
The researchers asked the parents to record their approach to bedtime with their children, and report them back. When the statistics and feedback were analysed and compared, some interesting results emerged.
The most significant nugget of information to emerge from the study, was that when parents actively enforced a bedtime during the week, their children were more likely to hit their recommended amount of sleep.
Indeed, of the 84 per cent of parents who admitted to enforcing bedtime rules, 59 per cent claimed their children were more likely to meet the sleep guidelines.
This is at odds with those parents who reported merely ‘encouraging’ a bedtime during the week.
Lead author Dr Heather Manson explained, in the BMC Public Health journal: “We found that ‘encouragement’ as a parental support was less effective for both weekend and weekday sleep.
“Enforcement of rules around bedtimes had a significant impact, but only on weekdays. We can conclude that parents enforcing a bedtime on the weekday could help support their child to achieve sufficient sleep.”
So, while rules regarding screen time were found not to have any noticeable impact on a child’s capacity to meet their recommended sleep guidelines, a parent’s behaviour absolutely can.
“In the family context, parents’ support behaviours towards sleep could play an important role in their child’s health,” added Dr Manson.
This latest research plays into a study released two years ago, which claimed that having a regular bedtime routine can result in better sleeping patterns for children up to the age of six.
The study, published in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine journal, found that ‘for each additional night that a family is able to institute a bedtime routine…the better their child is likely to sleep’.
Over to you, mums – do you agree that enforcing a bedtime produces better results? Let us know!
