Natalia Vasylkiv Child Sleep Consultant

10/09/2023

Greek schools start tomorrow, and most of your kids (according to my poll in stories) are still on your summer sleep schedule.

If you follow those tips bellow, I promise you that your child will look so different from other kids on next Friday morning. Most of school kids are getting red eyes and are tired by the end of the first week. This is something that you can prevent. And don’t tell me then that you didn’t know!

➡️Sit down with a piece of paper (or notes in smartphone) and write down all the important time points of the day. Yes, you have to write it down. Just keeping in mind everything - it doesn’t work. Then discuss this schedule with all family and hang it on the fridge so that everybody can look up and remember important times. Most important information that you note is wake up time, bedtime, and all meals of the day.

If you don’t believe your child should get meals the same time every day, tell me about it in comment below.

➡️Plan sleep schedule according to your child’s sleep needs. Most kids in elementary school (δημοτικό) need around 10-11 hours of sleep at night, kindergarten (νήπιο, προνήπιο) 11-12 hours, toddlers 12-14 hours (included nap). So if your child has to leave house at 8 am, and wake up at least at 7:30 am, his bedtime is going to be not later hat 21:00, and for most kids even earlier.

How is it possible to provide child with enough rest in Greek real life (we all know that most afterschool activities are late) - I will talk about it the next weeks. Now the first week just put your sleep and meal schedule as a priority.

➡️Plan time for winddown and relaxing routine. It doesn’t matter how tired you are and how much work you have to finish at the end of the day, you have to find 15-30 minutes for quality time with your child before sleep. Your child’s sleep routine should be consistent (consistent, consistent!!), nice and relaxing, include activities that both you and you child enjoy, calm voices, hugs and love. Oh, and pleaseeeee, no stressful talks about homework at this time!

If you need examples of best bedtime routine activities which also bring you and your child closer, tell me in comments and I will write about it another time.

➡️Good sleep hygiene is your best friend. Voices, sounds, lights get lower an hour before bedtime. No screens and hour before sleep. Use blackout shades at night because it’s not so dark in the evening yet, and also early in the morning. Let fresh air in bedroom, or put on an air condition - the lower temperature, the better sleep. Comfortable bed and pijamas, stuffed animal ( a lovey).

Behind of these sleep hygiene recommendations stand many scientific researches, as well as my practical experience. Just try it and you will see that your child sleeps better.

Questions?⬇️

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13/06/2023

Έρχεται το καλοκαίρι και θα βλέπουμε από δω και πέρα πιο συχνά μωρά που γκρινιάζουν το βράδυ επειδή κουράστηκαν. Αλλά δεν τους πάνε για ύπνο - αφού δεν έδυσε ακόμα ο ήλιος…

02/06/2023

Δεν είναι σημαντικό μόνο πόση ώρα κοιμόμαστε, αλλά πρέπει να προσέχουμε και την ποιότητα ύπνου.
Ενημερωθείτε για την ποιότητα ύπνου ανά ηλικία στα highlights.

22/03/2023

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2023/03/new-story-pagedim-lights-before-bedtime-to-reduce-risk-of-gestational-diabetes/?fbclid=IwAR0H3G0hrVoSAT9aL1k2jkVeVaquc4uA6MIOKAaCYG6GXzLYg6aCZQnN9Ak

Pregnant persons should dim the lights in their home and turn off or at least dim their screens (computer monitors and smartphones) a few hours before bedtime to reduce the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus, a new study shows.

22/03/2023

well well well... the first class for both moms and kids ;) just perfect Sunday morning

22/03/2023

16/03/2023

Sometimes it’s a good idea to use help of a sleep professional.

Your doctor or pediatrician would really love to help you or your child sleep better. And they are great in work what they do. But if they had not been trained extra for sleep topics after graduated medical school, they just have not enough knowledge and experience to navigate diverse sleep issues.

Coaching a family through sleep training of their child, needs between 10 to 20 working hours. Pediatrician does a lot of very important works when diagnosing and healing our kids. They can really not afford to give so much time for sleep training.

Who helps with sleep issues?

- certified and specially trained child sleep consultant/sleep coach (no medical methods)
- a therapist who works with CBT-I (for adults)
- somnologist (a sleep doctor, usually for more severe sleep disorders by adults and kids)

These professionals are trained and constantly continue their education/research in field of sleep, working with sleep every day. They have tools to help you reach your sleep goals more quickly.

15/03/2023

Οι διαταραχές ύπνου είναι ένα πρόβλημα που ακουμπάει τεράστιο ποσοστό των ανθρώπων - μικρών-μεγάλων.

Τα καλά νέα είναι ότι τα τελευταία 60 χρόνια έχουν γίνει πολλές έρευνες και πλέον ξέρουμε περισσότερα για τον ύπνο. Τώρα ξέρουμε αρκετά για να μπορούμε να αντιμετωπίσουμε ένα μεγάλο κομμάτι των προβλημάτων ύπνου.

Εάν εσείς ή το παιδί σας δεν κοιμάστε καλά, μην το αφήνετε να περάσει μόνο του. Κάντε ενεργές κινήσεις για να αλλάξετε την κατάσταση.

Στην σελίδα Instagram .gr σας δίνω πολλές συμβουλές πως να καλυτερεύετε τον ύπνο σας.

14/03/2023

❌Αν είναι μια φορά δεν πειράζει
❌Είναι οκ να μην κοιμάμαι καλά όλη την βδομάδα και μετά θα χορταίνω ύπνο το ΣΚ
❌6 ώρες ύπνου φτάνει για μένα

Είναι πολύ επικίνδυνοι μύθοι. Χρειαζόμαστε καλό ύπνο κάθε νύχτα.

13/03/2023

Let me remind you that sleep is not a "doing-nothing state", it's an important time when a lot happens in our brains.

We have to take care to sleep enough hours (and that is between 7 and 9 for an adult). But also the quality of our sleep is very important.

Make sure you sleep in a cool dark room, go to bed and wake up around the same time every day, and find time to wind down an hour before bedtime.

10/03/2023