As daylight saving time begins, experts provide advice for improving sleep quality for all ages, including breaking the habit of scrolling before bed and implementing a relaxing nighttime routine.
Clocks spring forward one hour at 2 a.m. Sunday. With the start of daylight saving time comes another hour of daylight — but one less hour of sleep this weekend.Chrissy Lawler, a licensed marriage and family therapist and author of "The Peaceful Sleeper: An Intuitive Approach to Baby Sleep," has advice for people of all ages — adults, teens and babies — on how to get a good night's rest.
"Unfortunately, the worst habit that we all need to break is scrolling before bed," Lawler said. "That blue light really messes with our sleep cycle. And most of us are consuming social media or active, engaging dopamine-producing content, which then makes it harder for our system to wind down."Lawler recommends charging your phone somewhere separate. "Put your phone down, connect with your family, ask good conversation questions, or even simple board games like Yahtzee or card games with a family can be a great way to connect and wind down instead of just scrolling on the couch next to each other," she said.She added that undervaluing sleep is part of the reason so many have poor sleep patterns."We have this old belief in our system about sleep being lame, sleep being indulgent or lazy," Lawler said. "It's really about reframing sleep as literally one of the most important things we can do to set ourselves up for success — mentally, physically, and cognitively."Lawler also outlines a five-minute nighttime reset. "Put your phone down, reconnect with your people. Ask good engaging questions — what was the best part of your day, what was the worst part of your day — instead of simply 'hey, how was your day?'" Lawler said. "Wash your face, take a shower, turn down the sheets. Tea can be really helpful. Journaling can also be really great to get all of the cares from the end of the day off your mind — with an action plan to handle tomorrow — so you're not just laying in bed thinking about it."She also recommended putting devices away well before you're ready to go rot bed."I recommend putting your phone down 30 to 60 minutes before you're trying to go to sleep," she said.Lawler also had advice for those who wake up in the middle of the night: "The very best thing you can do is get up out of bed — to keep your sleep system knowing that the bed is the place where I sleep," she said. "The second biggest culprit in middle of the night awakenings is late afternoon caffeine."For families, Lawler recommends a three-step wind-down routine. "Put screens away, reconnect with your family, and make up a story or tell an engaging story — so that it uses that creative part of your brain, Lawler said. "Your family is reconnecting and you're laughing together and you are building that chemical connection with oxytocin and the warmth and the dopamine and the happiness. All of that can help your system wind down and feel safe and secure enough to sleep well."
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