Today is world sleep day (March 16, 2018)!

You may have read one of my numerous articles about the benefits of sleep for kids and how to teach your child to get adequate rest.

Today I’m going to share some reasons why sleep is important to me and some tips on how I get better sleep each night.

Why sleep is so important to me!

I function better. My sanity and mental health are restored by sleep.
My family gets a more patient and well balanced ME. I have way more understanding and perspective.
I have MS and sleep is essential to my disease management. I have been stable for so long and I know I owe so much to my sleep.

How I get a better night sleep!

Physical activity. As a busy mom getting enough physical activity is hard. I love to run and love to get outside while the kids play. It’s been a hard winter with way too much snow and way too many extremely cold days. A day being stuck in the house usually leads to a bad night.
Turning off electronics before bedtime - I still have a hard time with this some nights but I really do notice that I sleep much better when I read before bed versus watch tv.
When my mind is running at bedtime I turn on a meditation app. My personal favourite is - Insight Timer.
I have a Bedtime - I usually try to have a bedtime of 10pm so am in bed by 9:45pm and try to sleep by 10:30pm. If this is a challenge for you set an alarm for bedtime.
I’m working on building more consistency into my evening routine….teeth, wash face, moisturize, take medication etc.
I have a dark room, comfy bed. I love to get into a bed that is made and I adore my PJ’s.
I love my sleep mask! It’s helped so much.

Bonus - when my girls were over about 1 year old - unless they were sick we used to turn off the monitor. We live in small house and can hear their snoring or talking in their beds.

I love sleep and get great pleasure teaching others about sleep. Thanks for reading a little about me.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy Sleep

Alison xx

PS. If you are interested to hear me talk about something special or if there is a topic you want me to post about I’d love to hear from you. Email me at alison@cheekysleeper.com, or find cheeky sleeper on facebook or instagram.