By Sarah Hanratty – Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioner
Disrupted sleep can affect the health and well-being of both children and parents. When unsettled sleep patterns become chronic and engrained, exhaustion becomes the ‘new normal’. Many of us have tried strategies to help their child settle to sleep and sleep through the night but most of us wouldn’t have considered the role of nutrition in sleep.
The right nutrition can support both sleep quality and quantity. Key nutrients can affect the production of neurotransmitters and hormones that help our children to get a good night’s sleep. Nutrition can be a modifiable factor in supporting our children’s sleep.
Omega 3 fatty acids from oily fish and some nuts and seeds are important for sleep quality. Low levels of omega 3 have been linked with lower melatonin levels. Our bodies produce melatonin as the evening begins and it controls our sleep cycle. Lower levels lead to difficulties with both getting to and staying asleep. In a small study children who took an omega 3 supplement slept on average for one hour longer and woke up to seven times less during the night. Encouraging your child to eat oily fish, chia and flax seeds or finding inventive ways to include these in their diets helps with learning, behaviour too.
Omega 3 also helps with better neurotransmitter signalling. Neurotransmitters are our brains chemical messengers; they play a key role in keeping us happy and calm. Omega 3 fats allow our brain to send a receive signals clearly. Our neurotransmitters play an important role in determining when we sleep and the quality of our sleep. Specific nutrients provide building blocks and co-factors to support neurotransmitter production.
It is possible that with increased processing of foods we are getting less of the nutrients required to support production of the neurotransmitter GABA. GABA helps us feel less anxious and promote feeling calm. You might notice that your child has anxiety around sleep and bedtime. Magnesium, potassium and calcium are some of the key nutrients involved in supporting GABA production. Increasing the nutrient density of our children’s diet can help promote GABA levels. Focus on green vegetables like spinach and broccoli, as well as lentils and beans. Some gut bacteria also help with GABA production. Gut health is important for serotonin production too. Serotonin is a key player in lessening anxiety too. It is also a pre-cursor to melatonin, meaning that if serotonin levels are low then melatonin may be too – resulting in sleep difficulties. Serotonin production is supported by zinc, B6 and magnesium – whole grains, green vegetables, meat and fish are all helpful in this instance.
It’s worth mentioning that the sleep hormone, melatonin, is easily disrupted by screen time in the evening. The light from phones, computers and other gadgets suppresses melatonin production making difficulties getting off to sleep inevitable. For some children any source of light within the bedroom could affect melatonin production.
Disrupted sleep in some toddlers has been linked to cow’s milk intolerance. If your child struggles with regular tummy aches, or has eczema and wakes frequently throughout the night then this may be worth investigating. One study showed that in children with suspected cow’s milk intolerance removal of milk from the diet resulted in longer sleep time and less wakings during the night. The removal of foods from a child’s diet should be done under professional guidance.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, if your child eats sugar, chocolate or other stimulants too close to bedtime this can disrupt sleep. However, as well as preventing getting off to sleep it may result in waking during the night too. In this instance your child may struggle with getting back to sleep leading to long periods of being awake during the night.
Choosing the right foods can help support good sleep. Functional foods for sleep include cherries, walnuts, bananas, kiwi, milk, oats. Tart cherry juice has found to be effective for sleep due to its influence on melatonin. Although, tart cherries have a strong taste that may not be preferred by children. Milk contains tryptophan which supports serotonin and melatonin production, so it’s role as a sleep inducing bedtime drink is well-founded. Other evening snacks that could support sleep include; porridge oats with chopped banana, nut butter on toast with banana or some walnuts. You could make a ‘sleep smoothie’ by blending together milk, frozen cherries, a handful of oats a pinch of cinnamon and perhaps a date to sweeten depending on taste preference.