Kingsley: Fresh Air & Sunshine

Wednesday 21st May 2014

Who would have know? A daily dose of fresh air and sunshine helps babies to sleep longer at night. Its not new news to the rest of the world (I guess) but it is news to me. Now that we have moved to our new digs, and the apartment has doors, balconies and windows that open (and indeed we open wide day and night) our boy King sleeps the best he has ever slept in his five-and-a-half months of life.

Fresh air and sunshine each day makes for a happy, alert boy.

Fresh air and sunshine each day makes for a happy, alert boy.

 

Three nights into our cute, cosy two bedroom apartment on the third floor of Al Kawakeb and I am feeling the most rested I have ever felt since having Kingsley. I’ve thought about why. And I am convinced its because we now sleep with windows open, the warm desert wind softly lulling my baby to sleep. Air circulates freely in our home. And not just air conditioning air (yuck); its the real thing: fresh air!

Kingsley at 5.5 months of age in the sunshine

Kingsley at 5.5 months of age in the sunshine

Of course it is well established that the stimulus of light helps set circadian rhythm in humans and other mammals. Circadian cycles, influenced by hormones and light and dark, set our body clock. One possible explanation for the link between light exposure and sleep is that higher light levels encourage the early development of the biological clock, which regulates a number of bodily functions, including the secretion of melatonin, an important factor in well-balanced sleeping patterns. And my little mammal is sleeping beautifully these days.

Let the light in!

 

Leave a Reply