So, obviously using technology to help one’s sleep doesn’t make much sense. It’s almost a widely accepted known fact that using technology as much as we do can actually damage our sleep habits and patterns, especially when using it in bed and during nighttime. If you or your child haven’t been sleeping that well though, you may need some extra support getting the recommended eight hours of sleep a night.
If you’ve noticed that your child’s sleep health has been affected recently, you’re not alone either. With the stress and anxieties that have been, well, everywhere for the past few months, they might have been doomscrolling and finding it hard to get off their phone before bed. They might have been taking more naps during the day because they’re confined inside their home so much of the time and have nothing else to do, which then in turn makes it harder to sleep at night. Sleep disorders are also very common among those who have anxiety and/or depression, and with symptoms of these two mental illnesses increasing, and staying this way, due to COVID, these sleep disorders are likely to affect people, especially adolescents, more frequently now.
Making it a habit to monitor your sleep in the hopes of improving it might not only affect how well one sleeps, but may improve their mental health as a whole. It’s a way to organize and feel productive and actively making changes to an important part of your overall health. They can keep a sleep journal by your bed, for example, or they can refer to some of the apps we’ve collected below.
Overall, we hope that finding some method of tracking your sleep can help your child take a step back and see what their sleep habits are like and how they can improve your sleep, mood, and mental health to feel like the best them.
If your child has a Fitbit or smartwatch, they likely have a tool on there that tracks their sleep already – they can check the corresponding app for it on their phone to see if they do! Other than that, check out some of the free apps below:
Sleep Cycle
Sleep Watch
Sleep Score
What are your sleeping habits like? What are your child’s like? Has your child’s sleeping patterns changed recently?