How to Create Healthy Habits That Strengthen Your Family (Part 2)

Last week, in part one of this series, I introduced How to Create Healthy Habits That Strengthen Your Family. I invite you to check out the first five healthy habits that have made a positive impact on my family’s life.

This week, I have five more successful habits that have helped my own family of eight kids, ages 14 to 26, sustain a healthy and happy lifestyle.

Healthy Habit #6: Get plenty of rest

Getting restful sleep every night is important to our physical and emotional health. Of course, with everything we need to do throughout the day, many of us deprive ourselves of the proper rest. Families are often so busy that they try to make extra time by sleeping less, creating a bad habit that can last a lifetime. By establishing a regular bedtime for yourself and your kids, you will be setting up an essential practice that will not only benefit you now, but when your child becomes an adult.

In my episode 5 Ways to Help Your Family Sleep Better, I shared a study from The National Sleep Foundation:

• Newborns should sleep 12 to 18 hours out of every 24 (as every new parent hopes)
• Toddlers under age 3 need 12-14 hours of sleep
• Preschoolers between ages 3 and 5 need 11-13 hours
• School-age children ages 5 to 10 need 10 to 11 hours per night
• Teens need about nine hours of sleep each night to function best

Most teens don't get nearly enough sleep. One study found that only 15 percent of teenagers reported sleeping eight-and-a-half hours on school nights.

My episode on sleep has suggestions on how you can help your family get the rest they need by rethinking your whole relationship with sleep. We invest our time and energy in educational and social experiences for our kids, yet monitoring the amount of sleep they get each night can easily fall off the radar.

If you have babies and younger children, reevaluate your nap and bedtime routines. If you have school-aged children or teens, take an honest look at your whole family's sleep habits. Getting good sleep is as important as eating well and going for your annual wellness checkups.

Healthy Habit #7: Promote financial responsibility

... Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips