How do I create a sleep sanctuary?

Research shows that sleep is a time when the brain cleans out toxins accumulated during the daytime. Ensuring a healthy sleep is one of the most powerful steps we can take to prevent illness and protect our family’s health and wellbeing

Create A Healthy Sleep Space

• Do not sleep with switched on cell phones nearby. 
• Use a battery powered alarm clock, because electric clocks emit high fields that could also impact melatonin.
• If you do not have one, and need house your cell phone, put the phone on airplane/flight mode. Yes it still works as an alarm even when the wireless antennas are off.
• Ensure bedrooms are free of all screens and wireless devices.
• Power off all wireless and wireless devices at night in your home so that your nighttime exposure to radiation is reduced. This includes routers, gaming consoles, home cordless phone bases, and mobile phones.
• We recommend a low blue light battery powered book light, instead of a wired lamp near the bed.
• Sleep away from utility meters and electric panels. Ensure there is not a meter on the other side of the wall that the bed is up against. We recommend opting out of the smart meter to get an analogue meter instead. 

Keep Your Bedroom Dark 

• Use light-blocking curtains or teach your older kids how to use an eye covering to minimize light at night.
• If you need access to light in the middle of the night, use low-illumination night lights—rather than switching on bright hallway or bathroom lights. 

Start a Healthy Bedtime Routine 

• Choose screen free options in the evening. Read to your child at night. Instead of a TV or Youtube show to end the day, play recorded books (through a wired speaker). 
• Stop using screens at least an hour or two before bedtime.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends an “Electronic Bedtime”. This means electronics are powered off and put away in the evening. 
• Parents can and should set healthy limits on screen time with their children and teens. 

We realize that turning screens off a few hours before bedtime becomes increasingly challenging the older your children get, especially with homework now mostly online. This is why starting early with youngest children is so important.