The Healthy4Life 12 days to a healthier Christmas: Day twelve

Our ‘Healthy4Life’ programme helps families across North Tyneside and the title speaks for itself – being healthy is a life-long commitment. Being healthy for one day isn’t going to change your life, the same as having the occasional treat won’t ruin all of your hard work!

So, to turn the ‘a dog is for life, not just for Christmas’ phrase on its head, being healthy is for life, and isn’t to be forgotten at Christmas!

As always, we’re here to help! The Healthy4Life team has created a 12 day guide to a more active and healthy Christmas – with lots of festive fun for the family…

Day twelve

Santa’s sleep tips

We all love getting cosy under the covers but our routine before we get into bed is important for a good night’s kip and for our overall health and wellbeing.

We know how important it is to get to sleep on Christmas Eve (he sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake) so here are some useful tips for a nice bedtime routine to make sure you’re snoozing when the man in the red suit is busy busy busy:

• Wind down before bed with a calming activity, reading a book or chat with the people you live with – take the time out to relax and switch off from everything you did that day

• Try to avoid small screens for at least one hour before bedtime – blue light is a light that comes from screens and can stimulate our eyes and keep us awake for longer than we want to be

• Try to avoid sugary drinks, energy drinks, or anything with caffeine in for several hours before bedtime – these can also keep us awake long into the night

• Good ventilation in the room you’re sleeping in can make a world of difference – open a window for a little while to let some fresh air in, try to make sure that the room isn’t too hot or too cold

• Try to avoid having devices in the room that you’re sleeping in, leave phones, tablets and computers in another room, and if you have a TV in your room, ensure that it is switched off before you lay down