Feb. 12, 2025

We Are The Hansons The Importance Of Sleep For Our Kids And Us

We Are The Hansons The Importance Of Sleep For Our Kids And Us

In this episode of We Are The Hansons, we dive into the crucial role sleep plays in our family's daily life. With a household full of kids, maintaining healthy sleep habits isn't always easy, but we've learned just how essential rest is for both children and parents. We discuss bedtime routines, sleep challenges we've faced over the years, and how we ensure everyone gets the rest they need to function at their best. From handling late-night wakeups to making sure mom and dad get enough sleep, we share our strategies, struggles, and successes in prioritizing rest in a busy home.

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Welcome back to We are the Hansens.

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If you're new here, we're a big family with lots

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of love and a lot of chaos and a lot

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of stories to share. Today we're diving into something that

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affects every single.

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One of us. Sleep.

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As parents, we know firsthand how crucial it is to

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get enough rest, but in a house full of kids,

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it's often easier said than done. So let's talk about

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why sleep matters, how we prioritize it in our home,

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and what happens when we don't get enough of it.

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I'm going to start by saying with the kids. Every

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parent knows when toddlers miss an app it's game over.

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But beyond avoiding meltdowns, sleep is essential for their development.

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I can say this as a parent. For my children,

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if they didn't get a nap when they were little,

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it was pure craziness, pure chaos.

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We had meltdowns, we had.

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Fits, temper tantrums, whatever you guys call it, it always happened.

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And I have a seven and an eight year old.

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Sometimes I wish that I could give them a nap,

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and if they didn't attend school, they would definitely be

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getting one, Because sometimes I don't think they get enough sleep,

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and it's very whiny, very chaos because they fight. And yes,

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I know they're close in age, they are going to fight.

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It's a dead giveaway. But it let's just say this,

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It helps their brains grow, supports their immune system, and

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even impacts their behavior. That is the truth, one hundred percent.

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And it's not just the little ones. Even our teenagers

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need way more sleep than they think. Studies say kids

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between the age six and twelve need nine to twelve

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hours of sleep, and teens should get eight to ten hours.

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I'm gonna tell you my teenagers, they definitely don't get that.

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They think that because they're young, they can up late

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and they can still function. I'm telling you they cannot

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function very well.

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I see it in their schooling.

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I'm always on them about you guys got to get

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more sleep. You guys can't just run on fumes every

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day because you think that just a little bit of

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sleep helps.

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It doesn't you know, social lives.

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That's not always going to happen because they're so tired.

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They go to school, they come home and they're drained.

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They are so wiped out that all they want to

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do is just lounge around you know, it starts affecting schooling,

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social life, being able to do things. So that's exactly

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why I'm always hounding them. And with the little ones,

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they are just dragging around, moping around after school, moping

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around before school.

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It's like, come on, guys.

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I try to do my best to make sure my

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kids get enough sleep. And sometimes they say even if

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they go to bed early, they might wake up up

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throughout the night constantly, and that is true to a point.

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I notice that when it is dry in our house,

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I wake up a lot during the middle of the night.

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I'm either coughing, I need to get a sip of water.

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And I know that's what my kids go through. We

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always have a humidifier running just to keep it that way,

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and we try to keep our house a little cooler.

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I freeze all the time. My husband gives me a

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lot of grief because he's always saying, you're always cold.

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And I am. I am always cold.

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Even in the summertime when my house has got the

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air on, guess where I am. I'm outside on the

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back porch or outside doing something because it's warmer outside

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than in my house. And I hate being cold. When

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our kids don't get enough sleep. We all feel it.

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They're more irritable, they struggle to focus, and they're more

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likely to get sick.

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It's like a chain reaction. I see it a lot.

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My kids think I'm crazy, My kids think my husband's

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crazy because of it. Now, let's talk about how we

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handle bedtime in our house.

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You know, with a house full of kids, it's not

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easy as just go to bed.

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They don't magically fall asleep. We try and get our

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kids up early and get them waking up, get them

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some food. Our kids not always like to eat breakfast

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in the morning because they're just not ready to eat,

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or they're just not hungry. As a kid growing up,

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I knew, you know, every morning I wasn't eating breakfast.

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I just could not do it.

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And I've noticed that in a couple of my kids

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that they just can't eat breakfast in the morning, so

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they'll drink of water or juice or something and just

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kind of hang out and watch cartoons, whatever.

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It may be.

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So we've had to figure out routines that actually work

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for us. For the younger ones, we stick to I'm

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kind of a set schedule where you know, we eat

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dinner and then it's usually bad time. Sometimes we'll do

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homework if they have homework, and then we eat dinner

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and then bad time. Sometimes we'll forget and I'll be like, oh,

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we forgot homework. So sometimes it's bad time then bedtime.

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So it just depends how busy we are and how

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things go throughout the night. But most of the time

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we try to get our kids in bed.

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And I've caught them getting on their tablets.

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I've had to take tablets away because screen time before

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bed just does not help. It actually winds them up more,

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I think. And I think it's they say, if you

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have your phone on and you're looking at your phone

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or a tablet, the blue light in the phone causes

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you to stay up and so you have to have

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an hour prior to falling asleep no screen time.

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And I believe that. And for our older kids, we try.

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To get them some independence, but we also have expectations.

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Like I said, no phone's in the bed, and they

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need to wind down before sleeping. They need to just

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mellow out, relax, watch a little TV if anything. Most

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of the time, my younger kids, you know, and my teenager,

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they'll just shut the TV off and have it completely

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dark in the room, nothing on, just silence, and that

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helps a lot too. I've noticed that another thing we

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try to do for the older ones is maybe put

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on a little bit of music in the background, because

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people say that you got to have some type of

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background noise. My daughter Morgan, she sleeps with like sounds

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of the water crashing in the ocean, up against the rocks,

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or just outside sounds.

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It helps. And I'm that person too.

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I have to have some type of background noise, even

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if it's the fan going, which I don't like the

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fan going because I freeze myself, so that doesn't always work.

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So honestly, we notice that when we're consistent with bedtime routines,

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mornings are so much easier. No one wants to start

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a day off right away fighting over getting out of bed.

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I don't like fighting getting out of bed. It is terrible.

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So now I want to jump into what happens when

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parents don't get enough sleep. So we've talked about the kids,

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but what about us, Because let's be honest, parents are

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notorious for putting sleep on the back burner. I am

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one person that I can look at and say I'll

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put sleep on the back burner. I have a hard

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time sleeping at night. We feel it the next day.

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When we don't get enough sleep. We're more impatient, less productive,

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and let's be real, we don't function well on no sleep.

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I can tell the difference in my mood and how

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I handle the kids and when I had a good

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night's sleep versus when I've been up half the night.

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And sleep isn't just about energy, it's about health as well.

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I know when we lack sleep, it increases stress, it

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weakens our immune system, and it makes everything harder. Plus

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we have to set an example for our kids. If

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they only see us prioritizing rest, they're more likely to do.

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The same thing.

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So how do we make sure everyone, kids and parents

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get the rest they need. Well, I'm going to tell

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you a consistent routine. We aim for the same bedtime

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and wake up time even on weekends, which that's hard.

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We always give our kids a little leeway on the

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weekends because it's a weekend. It keeps everyone's body clock

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on track. We limit screen time before bed. The blue

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lie from the screens messes with melatonin production, so we

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cut off electronics at least thirty minutes before bedtime. We

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create relaxing atmospheres. Dim lights, quiet activities, and comfy bedding

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make a big difference.

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Model good habits.

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If we make sleep a priority, our kids are more

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likely to see its value too. And I try and

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explain that to all my kids, like this is helping

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your brain. When you get enough sleep, it makes you

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function better, it helps you learn better. There's a lot

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to getting a good night's sleep. We know when to

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be flexible. Some nights things don't go as planned, you know,

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Sometimes we get home late and we don't get dinner

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done early. Sometimes it's a late night. We try to

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just but we don't let bad habits take over us.

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It's hard as parents not to let bad habits take over.

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For instance, when we have a football game to go

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to or a cheer event to go to, we don't

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get home until late. So what it looks like when

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we come home is mad chaos. I'm hurrying trying to

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figure out something quick to make because either we didn't

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put dinner in the crock pot early because we weren't thinking,

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and things just got too busy with work and stuff,

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so we just forgot all about it, and we're just

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trying to scramble to find something to.

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Fill our bellies.

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Before bed because it is so late and we're just

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trying to look for something quick. Sometimes it's a free

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for all, what do you want for dinner? What do

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you want for dinner? And the kids will pick like

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pizza rolls or pizza or Ramen noodles, even though I

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don't think Ramen noodles are great for people, but that's

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something quick that they can fill their belly and be

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satisfied and be ready to get in the bath and

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get to bed. And we've had to do that. A

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family with a lot of kids does not have it easy.

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And I can tell you we are not perfect. Nobody

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is perfect. So we do break these rules and it's

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very easy to do with all the kids having different

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things to go to and different events, and.

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It does get broke.

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And that's why when we're running throughout the week, it's

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good to let the kids just be them selves on

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the weekend and just enjoy friends or you know, late

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light movie with the family.

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I mean, it happens.

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So it's definitely not easy, but we make it work.

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I see my kids struggle when they're a plate.

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Everyone will go to bed and I'll.

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Hear one of my kids get up go to the bathroom,

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and then the other one. It's almost like a domino effect.

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When one kid has to go, then they all have

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to go. I see that.

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But at the end of the day, sleep isn't just.

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About feeling rested. It's about our health, our mood, and

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how we function as a family. When we get enough rest,

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all of us, we're happier, healthier, and handle life's craziness

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a lot better. So if we're tired as parents, we

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get crabby. If our kids are tired as kids, they're crabby.

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It doesn't mesh well, especially when neither one of us

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get enough sleep. There's always an argument. I want to

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thank everybody for hanging out with us today. If you

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have any sleep tips that work for your family, we'd

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love to hear them. You can send us a message

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on our Facebook at we are the Hansens, or you

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can send us an email at we Arethehansen's Show at

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gmail dot com, and please go over to our YouTube

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channel we are the Hansens and subscribe. I appreciate every

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single one of you, and if there is something and

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you want me to know, please reach out. Y'all have

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a wonderful night,