Sleep is for Losers!
Contributed by Dr. Josh
BeeWell Chiropractic
We all know what it’s like to not get enough sleep. You feel moody, easily agitated, and unfocused—plus, little sleep takes a big toll on your physical health over time. Our bodies do some of their best work while we’re sleeping, and that’s as fully grown adults.
Now imagine the effects of children getting interrupted or limited sleep. Kids are always going through some level of growth; learning how to regulate their emotions, exercising and nourishing their bodies, adjusting to new routines with friends and school, etc. Not only is sleep essential for their physical, mental, and emotional development, but without it, children don’t have a sense of normalcy. Consistent poor sleep in children can contribute to digestive issues, immune system problems, focus and behavior challenges, anxiety and depression, and other health concerns.
FACTORS THAT PREVENT CHILDREN FROM SLEEPING:
There are all kinds of things that can get in the way of sleep for children. Their environment, health, mood, and more can all interfere with a sleep schedule. If your child is consistently not getting enough sleep, the following factors could be at play.
- Interrupted circadian rhythms
- Sleeping or breathing disorders
- High stress or anxiety
- “Stuck on” nervous-system
- Too much stimulation.
CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENTS ARE KEY:
As chiropractors, we know exactly how to measure this. We have the technology and tests. If your child has really struggled with sleep, you may have gone to a sleep center and had sleep tests done or EEGs on the brain.
But we know what the brain is doing – it’s doing whatever the body tells it to do because the brain is one big sensory organ. For children especially, it is sensitive to a lot of stress stacked up over a lot of time.
Neurologically focused chiropractors measure the “sleep center” using the INSiGHT scans. We can find, locate and quantify how much a child or person may be stuck in this sympathetic overdrive – and it only takes 10 minutes. That’s why we see sleep as such a common secondary challenge with ADHD, sensory processing disorder, and anxiety kiddos.
If your child is struggling to fall asleep, stay asleep, get good quality sleep, or all of those, the number one thing to do is find out if they are stuck in this parasympathetic overdrive.
Chiropractors find that stress and make gentle, easy adjustments to release that tension. When we release that tension that has built up over time, not only do we get the stress out of the way, weare also able to stimulate the vagus nerve which is the calming, sleeping side of the nervous system.
Success Story: Meet this little one! When he came in one of his biggest challenges was sleep. Not only was he having a hard time falling asleep, but he was waking up multiple times during the middle of the night. This made his moods, behavior, and energy throughout the day all thrown off. His body was stuck on stress and never able to fully access rest mode, leaving his brain not only tired, but wired. So, with consistent chiropractic care, he was able to calm and regulate his nervous system!
Better sleep = better moods