Children’s stories, such as Goldilocks or Peter Pan, can help parents and offspring better understand sleep disorders and promote good nighttime habits, according to a team of researchers.
- Researchers suggest using fairy tales to educate children about the importance of sleep.
- In Snow White, the dwarves illustrate the effects of poor sleep; Goldilocks shows that optimal conditions (good bed, darkness, etc.) promote sleep; Peter Pan plunges us into parasomnias…
- By approaching the relationship with sleep (bedtime, nightmares, nocturnal awakenings, etc.) with enchantment and poetry, the stories could help parents and children to better understand sleep disorders.
What if the tales hid valuable lessons for the health of our nights? In a study, published in the Christmas issue of BMJBritish researchers propose using children’s stories to make them aware of the importance of sleep. They explain how these stories, enchanted but also didactic, can help parents and children to better understand sleep disorders and promote good nighttime habits.
Tales to tell about sleep disorders
In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfssome characters illustrate the effects of disrupted sleep, such as those caused by obstructive sleep apnea. Grumpy (Grumpy) embodies irritability, Sleeper (Sleepy) symbolizes fatigue, while Shy (Bashful) reflects a decline in social skills. Same Prof (Doc), with his speech difficulties, could illustrate the cognitive problems linked to a lack of sleep. So many symptoms that remind us of the very real consequences of a sleep deficit.
The protagonist’s restless night in The Princess and the Pea could, in turn, reveal sensory sensitivity associated with autism spectrum disorder, the researchers suggest. Insomnia, often linked to this type of sensitivity, is particularly common in children who suffer from it. The story would thus be a fun way to understand the challenges of restful sleep, and thus to promote it.
In Goldilocks and the Three Bearsthe heroine seeks ideal sleeping conditions: a comfortable bed and a temperature “just perfect”. Understanding, a practical metaphor for “optimize the sleeping environment: a quiet, dark room with the right temperature”note one press release.
Tools for parents
Last example with Peter Pan, which immerses us in parasomnias, these unusual behaviors during sleep, common in childhood. The hero, often haunted by painful dreams, could thus suffer from nightmares or night terrors. Stress and separation anxiety, themes very present in the tale, are aggravating factors. Peter Pan also recalls the importance of sleep to consolidate memory and maintain a balanced mood, symbolized by Mrs. Darling who organizes her children’s memories each evening.
By approaching the relationship with sleep with enchantment and poetry (bedtime, dreams, daytime sleepiness, nocturnal awakenings, duration of sleep, snoring, etc.), the stories could help parents to talk more easily about sleep disorders with their children. children, and thus treat them better, conclude the researchers.
