5 Benefits of a Good Night’s Sleep for Kids on the Doman Method® Program
by Melissa Doman
At Doman International, our staff teaches that brain growth and development can be boosted when the brain has enough oxygen, stimulation, and opportunity. After working as a Doman Method® Coach for nearly 12 years, I’ve also learned just how crucial sleep is for the process of brain growth.
Of course, sleep helps to restore energy and puts us all in a better mood the next day. However, there are some very important processes that happen at night which can boost the effectiveness of a Doman Method Program.
Here are the 5 main benefits of a good night’s rest for your child with special needs:
1. Sleep helps the brain organize. During the day, our brain is retaining new pieces of information at an incredible rate. But, as Dr. Matthew Walker states in his book, Why We Sleep, deep sleep works as “a courier service, transporting memory packets from a temporary storage hold (hippocampus) to a more secure, permanent home (the cortex). Once things have moved up to the cortex, the brain goes through the process of organizing and storing everything learned that day. The more opportunity the brain has to do this, the easier it is to retain information.
2. Sleep helps the brain grow. At the end of every sleep cycle, our brain spends time in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. This stage of sleep is responsible for growing new pathways in the brain and helps to fertilize the new connections between brain cells. These little connections are called synapses, and look very similar to tree branches. These synapses are important for transmitting information throughout the brain. It’s no wonder that babies spend nearly 50% of sleep time in the REM stage!
3. Sleep helps the brain do some spring cleaning. In addition to organizing and growing, the brain needs time to get rid of the “junk” it no longer needs. During sleep, our brain is throwing out old information no longer needed, as well as pruning away old synapses to help the newer, stronger pathways grow. Studies now show that cerebrospinal fluid “washes in and out” of the brain in order to clear away all this debris.
4. Sleep helps with physical growth. One common issue for many children with special needs is their physical growth. Very often, these kids are well below the average for height and weight. However, kids who are getting adequate amounts of sleep at night will have more opportunity for their bodies to create growth hormones. When sleep is regular, it allows the pituitary gland to do its work.
5. Sleep helps keep you healthy. Another benefit of getting adequate sleep at night is that it helps to fight off potential infections. Illness is the number one hindrance in getting a Doman Method® Program done consistently. Getting adequate sleep allows the body to build up the amount of cytokines in our white blood cells. These cytokines are vital for telling the white blood cells to get ready to attack. The more cytokines you have, the faster the body will be able to respond to an incoming threat.
Now, many families may be wondering “I get it -- Sleep is so important! So how much sleep should my child be getting each night?” The answer to this question is fairly individual, however, getting close to or reaching this number of hours in a 24 hour period is optimal for your child (please note that the lower the age, the higher the number of hours!):
0-12 months: 16-20 hours
1-3 years: 12-14 hours
3-8 years: 11-12 hours a day
8-11 years: 9.5-11 hours a day
11 years and older: 9-10 hours a day