Mommy Scientist

Last week was a parenting nightmare...mostly because Wyatt didn't nap for 4 days in a row. All of my mom friends kept telling me that some kids give up naps when they turn two...and I was worried that Wyatt was one of them. The perplexing thing was that he was SERIOUSLY tired on the non-nap days. He needed to nap, but there was just something stopping him! What was it? Then on Thursday I remembered something that I had read in a scientific journal back when I used to be smart and spent my free time getting smarter. I didn't find the exact article but here is my introduction:

Take a warm shower If you miss a workout, you can still ease sleep-hindering anxiety by taking a warm shower or bath 90 minutes before bed, decreasing the water temperature toward the end. The water is a relaxant (tense muscles can increase your body temperature at night, interfering with the onset of sleep). "The heat warms the surface of the skin and the muscle below it, and the blood vessels dilate," says Smolensky. "That brings more blood flow to the area." The increased circulation brings more oxygen to your muscles and carries away built-up metabolic waste. Additionally, there will be a compensatory drop in your body temperature after the shower, similar to what happens post-exercise.

Take a hot shower or bath before you go to bed—about thirty minutes before you want to turn out the lights. The reason why it works is because the hot water makes our body temperature increase. When our bodies get warm, it is a signal to our brains that it is time for sleep. A recent study presented at the Association of Professional Sleep Societies’ annual meeting this year in New Orleans, LA, showed that hot baths were as effective in inducing sleep as taking a popular sleeping pill! Not only did the baths make people fall asleep faster—they even increased the amount of deep sleep they had—which sleeping pills tend to diminish. How’s that for a great, natural way to relax and fall asleep?

Materials and Methods:
A two year old boy
A hot shower
A hairdryer
A crib

Results:
Giving a 2 year old boy a shower between 10:30 am and 11 am, then using a hair dryer on his hair and body, and putting him in his crib elicits sleep within 40 minutes +/- 2 minutes

Conclusion:
This experiment needs to be further investigated with more small boys (to follow shortly), but indicates that the shower, hair dryer, crib method of sleep induction is highly effective.