• A glass of warm milk at bed time sure helps you sleep better as it contains an amino acid – tryptophan – which is sleep inducing. Besides dairy other sources of tryptophan are poultry, banana, soya, oats, other whole grains, beans, chickpea, rice and honey.
• A meal or a snack (small portion size) half an hour to an hour before bed time containing complex carbohydrates and a small amount of food stuff with the tryptophan is an ideal sleep inducer –  examples… banana milk shake, oats porridge sweetened with honey, cereal and milk,
• If the meal is rich in calcium in addition to complex carbohydrates and tryptophan there is an additional benefit as tryptophan is converted into the sleep hormone melatonin in the presence of calcium. So the best food to induce sleep is dairy. These should be ideally consumed an hour before going to bed.

To know more see Choosing the Right foods for a Good Night’s sleep

Routine, routine, routine: One day you tell them to sleep as late as they want and next day they have to sleep at 9, this is confusing to their brains and bodies. So make a routine and stick to it with minor changes during the weekends but be consistent.

Prepare them: If they are sleeping alone for the first time then you can make them comfortable by keeping their favorite soft toy near them and small night lamp on. Tell them that you are going to be there nearby in case they need anything or are afraid but they have to sleep by themselves. You have to make your own rules whether you want to go to then whenever they cry for help or want to them to soothe themselves and fall asleep.

To know more such ways see Make your Kid sleep

Create the mood: Kids are highly affected by the environment, if you create a relaxed environment with no phones, no loud TV and put on soft music, they will get sleepy and soon be off to bed. Many parents switch off the lights and soon enough the child gets the signal it is time to sleep and with no distractions is off to sleep.

Decide when they are ready: You should take a call about whether you think your kids are tired enough to sleep. If you want them to sleep at your destined time then they have to be worn out by that time. If they are not tired enough they will want to play till late hours at night. So let them play hard in the evening and they will surely be sleepy by nightfall.

To know more such ways see Make your Kid sleep

• Chronic Pain: With Age come the various pains in the back or the legs. For some, this pain might prevent them from getting restful sleep.
• Urinary Problem: It is common for the elderly to wake up many times at night to urinate.
• Depression, Stress and Worries: Most of the old people have a habit of worrying and this has a negative impact on sleeping pattern.
• Restless Limb Syndrome: It can cause chronic insomnia and one of the contributing factors for the day time fatigue felt by them. Some solutions are taking Folic acid and iron supplements, going for walks before sleeping and relaxation techniques like meditation.

To read ways to deal with it see How to Cope with Sleeping Disorders in Elderly

Its 5 in the morning...good time for Yoga?

Science Daily reports that Meditation may be an effective behavioral intervention in the treatment of insomnia, according to a research at Sleep 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.   

Results indicate that patients saw improvements in subjective sleep quality and sleep diary parameters while practicing meditation.

 Sleep latency, total sleep time, total wake time, wake after sleep onset, sleep efficiency, sleep quality and depression improved in patients who used meditation.

 According to principal investigator Ramadevi Gourineni, MD, director of the insomnia program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Evanston, Ill., insomnia is believed to be a 24-hour problem of hyperarousal, and elevated measures of arousals are seen throughout the day.

 ”Results of the study show that teaching deep relaxation techniques during the daytime can help improve sleep at night,” said Gourineni.

 The study gathered data from 11 healthy subjects between the ages of 25 and 45 years with chronic primary insomnia.

Participants were divided into two intervention groups for two months: Kriya Yoga (a form of meditation that is used to focus internalized attention and has been shown to reduce measures of arousal) and health education. Subjective measures of sleep and depression were collected at baseline and after the two-month period.

 Both groups received sleep hygiene education; members of the health education group also received information about health-related topics and how to improve health through exercise, nutrition, weight loss and stress management.