Eat right to sleep right

Heavy meals close to bedtime or eating fatty foods keep your child’s digestive system working long into the night, which can disrupt sleep. 

If your child regularly complains of hunger close to bedtime, try increasing their daytime food intake, or give them a light snack before beginning their bedtime routine. 

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that helps us to sleep and is naturally present in certain foods including dairy products, turkey and oats. So, it is true . . . warm milk can help you to sleep! 

Melatonin is the natural hormone that we produce when it gets dark and helps us to feel sleepy at night time. Some foods contain melatonin including cherries! The research around the amounts and its impact on sleep are still rather vague. 

Here are some suggestions for foods which promote good sleep:

1) Toast

Carbohydrate-rich foods cause a spike in blood sugar levels, triggering the body’s production of insulin to bring them back down. This is why you often feel a burst of energy in the first few minutes after eating carbs, then a “crash” of tiredness. At night, this sleepiness can be very useful, making toast the perfect  midnight snack.  

2) Oatmeal

Like toast, a bowl of oatmeal triggers a rise in blood sugar, which in turn triggers insulin production and the release of sleep-inducing brain chemicals. Oats are also rich in L-tryptophan which helps with the production of melatonin. 

3) Cherries

Cherries are one of the only natural food sources of melatonin, the chemical that controls the body’s internal clock to regulate sleep. Fresh cherries, dried cherries, and cherry juice (especially tart cherry juice, which contains less sugar) are wonderful sleep aids. Researchers who tested tart cherries and found high levels of melatonin recommend eating them an hour before bedtime or before a trip when you want  to sleep on the plane. 

4) Bananas

Potassium and magnesium are natural muscle relaxants, and bananas are a good source of both. They also contain tryptophan, the amino acid which can help us sleep.

5) Warm milk

Like bananas, milk contains the amino acid tryptophan. It’s also high in calcium, which promotes sleep. 

Remember, caffeine is a stimulant so best avoided in the run up to bedtime. It is not only present in tea and coffee but can also be found in hot chocolate and fizzy drinks.  

Fruit and natural fruit juice contains sugar which can give children a rush of energy if consumed too close to bedtime.