During Summer when I was a young boy, I would often spend the entire day outside–only returning to grab a quick bite to eat or to use the facilities. My buddies and I would climb trees, play hide-and-seek, shoot BB guns, play tackle football, ride our bikes around the block, skateboard in the driveway and shoot hoops on the garage. By the end of the day, I would be totally spent. After a bath and some dinner, bedtime came quickly and I would often fall asleep within minutes of climbing into my bed.
As an adult, I am totally amazed by the all or nothing attitudes displayed by the youth in my life. They live life on the edges, that’s for sure. Everything is so emotional–the highs are so high and the lows are so low. There is never any middle ground. I love seeing my kids sleep hard at the end of a very active day. They fall asleep quickly and sleep very soundly. I can go in their bedrooms turn on the light, straighten up, put away the laundry, and they are none the wiser.
But on the days that we are less than active, bed time can be a huge chore. The kids don’t want to go to bed, and they take longer to fall asleep. They also wake up earlier the following morning.
It seems that I’m not alone in these observations. A recent article from the NY Times reports the following:
Physical activity during the day and sleep onset at night were closely linked: every hour of sedentary activity during the day resulted in an additional three minutes in the time it took to fall asleep at night.
And there’s another benefit to being active during the day:
And the children who fell asleep faster ultimately slept longer, getting an extra hour of sleep for every 10-minute reduction in the time it took them to drift off.
So here’s the bottom line. Besides all the heart and weight benefits to being active, there are also significant sleep advantages for kids if they are active. So get out there and get those kids moving. They’ll be healthier, happier, and also sleepier than if they are sedentary.
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I love running around with my children and when you sit down for dinner and they are doing that thing where they can barely keep their eyes open. They are soo sweet
We’re fortunate in that our four boys feed off each other and keep each other active. It’s not uncommon for them to play tackle football together for several hours per day. They certainly sleep well at night. Another big thing for us is to avoid caffeine, excess sugar, etc. And, of course, consistency is the key when it comes to a nighttime routine. We’ve always put them down by 8PM. They know it’s non-negotiable, so they don’t put up (much of) a fight.
Less Dora for my monkey!
I think it’s important to note that there should be some lull time between the activity and when one goes to bed. This is especially true if the activity is particularly intense. If one comes back from a run and immediately tries to go to bed, they’ll probably end up spending an hour or more fighting increased hormone and metabolism levels and laying bolt awake in bed.
My baby Girl always passes out after dinner for all the running around of the day.