Do you know when your body naturally prepares for sleep? A few years back, I devised the “Washington Sleep Wellness Window” to help my patients remember when their sleep cues begin to appear, indicating the opening of a window that invites them to the world of restful sleep.
I emphasize this to highlight the importance of paying attention to these signs and not ignoring them, as they are crucial to guide our bodies toward a night of rejuvenating sleep. You will be rewarded for not missing the signs and cues when the sleep window opens. The first sign the sleep window is opening is often when you yawn.
Did you know that the word “yawn” is an onomatopoeic term for when your mouth automatically opens wide, and you inhale deeply due to tiredness? Moreover, the term “YAWN” is also an acronym for “Your Automatic Waking Negotiator.” It refers to the contagious nature of yawning and how it triggers a reflex in others to yawn, creating a network of people all experiencing the same tiredness. So next time you yawn, remember that your body is signaling to you and others around you that it is your time to strike a deal with your mind, to let go of wakefulness, and give in to going down for needed sleep.
In our children’s book, The Wonders and Magic of Sleep: A “Doctor Bedtime” Story, we tell children that their yawn is their alarm that bedtime is here! If heeded by children and adults alike, yawns come at a time that allows sufficient sleep for repairs after a busy day.
When you ignore the YAWN, stay up, and allow the sleep window to close, the ‘meltdown’ begins, especially for children. Good luck going to sleep now!
And even if you do manage to doze off after ignoring your yawns, by design, it is likely to be a light sleep from which you awaken frequently during the night and never find satisfying or refreshing.
You see, paradoxically, the very same chemical systems reflexively activated by staying awake have the effect of inducing insomnia and keeping you awake when you want to sleep. This makes you more vigilant, anxious, and often more uncomfortable physically, think headache, restless legs, and colic.
Over time, repeatedly letting your sleep window close without your acknowledgment and staying awake past your ‘yawn time’ induces genes that promote a survival mode mentality that might keep you alive if you were living in the wild but erodes the quality of life in the modern world. The genes of insulin resistance are a very apt example.
Children tend to broadcast their sleep signals, while adults tend to ignore them. The sleep signals are sometimes subtle, like rubbing the eyes or head, blinking, yawning, or stretching. Perhaps their eyelids will droop while their heads are nodding.
But when it’s time, it’s time. Sleep cues might come early, but they are rarely late. When they arrive, the sleep window opens, and the golden opportunity for sleep begins!
Parents know that rituals and preparation before the sleep window opens facilitate sleeping easily. A warm bath simulates the typical temperature drop most people experience in the evening before the onset of drowsiness. Rubbing their bodies and bundling the child comforts them and induces sleep. They tend to sleep more easily when the sleep window opens.
On the other hand, when the window of opportunity to sleep closes, and the child stays up too late for whatever reason, going to sleep after that will be an issue.
There is a penalty to pay when your sleep window closes without you.
Have you ever noticed what happens when you fail to put your child down to sleep at the time when the Washington Sleep Wellness Window of opportunity opens?
When children stay awake, especially after about two or three hours, they will eventually become more animated, talkative, playful, and rambunctious, and it will generally be more challenging to get them to sleep. It is as if sleepiness flies away. This is because the window of opportunity to sleep well, the proverbial right time for adequate sleep, has opened and closed.
When the sleep window closes for children and adults, the opportunity to initiate deep sleep that completes growth and repairs before the usual waking hour is missed. So, it is essential to acknowledge when the window opens. The good news is that this awareness is second nature to all of us.
The Washington Sleep Wellness Window opens when one feels drowsy after the sun goes down.
It is difficult to describe the different stages of drowsiness. However, a common early sign is yawning. A late-stage indication is when your eyes begin to shut, and you start to battle sleep with a head bob.
Please be mindful of when the window of sleep opens for you and your children. Don’t let it close and keep you from gaining all the health and life-affirming benefits it offers.
