Real Health Podcast: Getting kids to sleep during the bright summer months with sleep expert Tom Coleman

On this week’s episode of the Real Health podcast, I am joined by health scientist, sleep coach and podcast host, Tom Coleman.

At the beginning of our conversation, I asked Tom to define what sleep is. He said, “It's a period of inactivity where adaptations are happening and it's crucial for survival. I mean it is a period where the brain and the body get a chance to clean up and make adaptions and find balance.”

Often when discussing sleep, the question of how many hours is the optimum comes up. The sleep expert told me, “Research suggests seven to eight hours. Some people are fine on six hours. Some people require nine hours or even more. I've worked with people who require more. So, it depends on the person.”

Finally, I wanted to get a sense of how crucial a role light plays in getting to sleep. Tom said, “We have receptors in the back of our retina, and we have different receptors for different light frequencies and that tells the 24-hour timer in your brain and your circadian rhythm what time it is and thus what needs to happen. So, ideally, we want a dark room, and get an eye mask. It's low hanging fruit. Easy to get and it will improve your sleep quality and likely duration the first night you get it.”

You can listen to the full episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.