How to sleep better with Podsquad
As proud sponsor of the Sunday Mail Transurban Bridge to Brisbane, Health and Wellbeing Queensland is sending in the squad – Podsquad – to help Queensland families build healthy habits together.
The cute and colourful Epipods will help support you and your children to get active, one hop, skip and jump at a time, in a free, engaging and interactive app.
If you are preparing for Bridge to Brisbane or want to support your family’s health and wellbeing journey, exploring Podsquad may be a great way to start.
Sleepscapes for snoozing
A good night’s sleep is something most of us take for granted – except when it doesn’t happen. It’s essential for good health, just like air, sunlight and water.
That’s where Podsquad can help, by providing sleepscapes to help you and your family experience a restful and restorative night’s sleep.
Podsquad provides children and families with the resources to get active, explore different foods and improve sleep habits through Epipod creatures, each of whom represents different elements of health and wellbeing.
If your child is having trouble getting to sleep, then listening to Podsquad’s free sleepscapes – Bruce and the Beatle, Inland Sleepy Time, The Moth and the Butterfly – may help them to doze off.
5 tips for quality sleep
Did you know that at various stages of our life the amount of sleep we need may differ?
Australian health guidelines recommend babies need 14 – 17 hours of sleep each day (until 3 months) then 12 – 16 hours of sleep until 11 months. Toddlers need 11 – 14 hours of good quality sleep everyday, including naps, with consistent sleep and wake-up times.
Kids aged 3 – 5 years need 10 – 13 hours of good quality sleep every day, with consistent sleep and wake-up times. Some children still need naps at this age. 1
The Australian Department of Health recommends that young people aged 5 –13 years need between 9–11 hours of uninterrupted sleep, and teenagers aged 14–17 years need 8–10 hours.2
This compares with adults who are recommended to have at least 8 hours of good quality sleep each night.3
Here are 5 great tips for good sleep habits at any age:
- Wind it down
- Set a bedtime routine to help your body prepare for sleep. In the hour before going to bed, set your individual relaxing routine – this can include having a warm bath, reading a book or listening to relaxing music.
- Back off on the caffeine
- Along with alcohol and some medications, caffeine can impact our sleep quality – try and limit caffeine consumption especially later in the day.
- Tech free zone
- Switch off all screens 1-2 hours before bedtime and if possible, try not to have your phone in your bedroom – this will make it easier to stop the social media scroll in bed!
- Same time, same place
- Going to bed and getting up at the same time each day is essential to building a good sleep routine, find what best works for you and try to stick to it.
- Hey there sunshine!
- When you first wake up in the morning try to get some sunshine, starting your morning with a walk or stretch in the sun is a great way to get some Vitamin D and it also helps regulate your body clock. Make sure you remember your hat, sunglasses and sunscreen, and walk in the shade if you can.
Remember, it’s not about perfection – it’s about trying. It can take a while to establish a new habit, so keep at it. You don’t need to nail it 100% of the time.
For more great ideas to get kids healthy, active and sleeping well visit playpodsquad.com.au or download Podsquad for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
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