The link between Nutrition and Sleep...

01 Apr 2023

Can you believe that its nearly Easter?  It feels like Christmas was only yesterday, yet here we are!

Are you a fan of Easter eggs in your household?  Or perhaps Easter isnt even on your radar.  Either way, when it comes to chocolate, I’ve never been one to ban food groups from my children so I’m ok with them eating it - although we do limit how much they have.  Luckily the twins have a naturally low tolerance level when it comes to eating sweet treats so we don’t have to police them too much.  I, however, find it very hard to resist breaking into their easter egg stash when i see it lying there for weeks….!

I never really made a connection, until I became a Sleep Coach, between the food my children were eating and their sleep.  I mean, I knew they wouldn’t go to sleep if they were hungry (picture me at 8pm desperately posting bread through the bars of the twins’ cots!) but i didn’t realise quite the extent to which nutrition can play a role in sleep.  Here’s a few pointers that may be worth adding to your Sleep Toolkit when navigating that path to better nights!

The Positives:

OK, so lets start with some good stuff!  Did you know that there are certain foods that can actually help your child feel more sleepy?  There’s two main nutrients that we are going to focus on here:

Magnesium - sometimes called “nature’s sedative”, is needed by the body to help the brain calm and switch off.  Signs of deficiencies can materialise as anxiety, hyperactivity and poor concentration (anyone got a child that seems lively and unable to fall asleep at bedtime…?)

Tryptophan - needed by the body to produce Melatonin; our ‘sleepy’ hormone.  This hormone signals to the body that its time to wind down and go to bed soon.

Foods that contain one or both of these can help your child RELAX and CALM DOWN for bed.  Plus, fuller tummies reduce chances of waking out of hunger or being unable to settle out of hunger in the first place (no more posting bread through the bars of the cot!!):

Some ideal bedtime snacks with one or both of these nutrients in them are as follows:

• Hummus & crispbreads (or crackers/toast/pitta)

• Plain yoghurt & banana

• Wholemeal cereal e.g. Muesli / Weetabix

• Oat cakes with cream cheese

• Toast or crackers with nut butter

The Negatives:

It makes sense that whilst some foods help send our little ones drift off to sleep, others can actually keep them awake.  The main culprits…? Yep, SUGAR and CAFFEINE.  The extent to which they disrupt your child’s ability to fall and/or stay asleep will vary depending on how uniquely sensitive they are to those foods.  As a rule of thumb, limiting sugar a couple of hours before bed is a good idea.

Watch out for hidden sugars in kids yogurts and fruit juices…and remember…caffeine is in chocolate!  I know - so cruel!  

There’s lots more to add on the topic of sleep and nutrition but for now, i will leave it there!  So for Easter, whatever your rules are on chocolate consumption, my advice as a Sleep Coach is if you notice a distinct lack of sleep and hyperactivity at naps / bedtimes, you might just want to stash the easter egg haul up high and just watch that chocolate intake before bedtime…unless of course you want a child that is more bouncy than the Easter Bunny!

Send an email to caroline@thesleepremedy.co.uk and tell me whether you think nutrition may be at the root of your child's bedtime battles!  I'd love to hear from you.