Helping children to breathe healthy.
Have you ever considered the importance of how your children are breathing?
Would you like to have more information about how to know if your children are breathing well and the role this plays in their health and well-being?
In my 20 years of experience teaching in primary schools I have observed a noticeable pattern – Children who breathe through their mouths as a habit tend to have more challenges and issues with learning and concentration.
Well, quite simply by breathing through their mouths as a habit each day the children are receiving less oxygen uptake to their brains and muscles and this is limiting their potential in school. How our children are breathing all day and night is very important to their health and development.
Children who breathe through their mouths are more likely to have crooked teeth.
How our children breathe affects the growth and development of their jaws. Good breathing is always through the nose as a habit. Nose breathing encourages lip-seal and a healthy resting posture for the tongue inside the child’s mouth.
When nose breathing is the habitual way of breathing for our children, correct and healthy development of the growing jaws is encouraged. We want our children to reach their full potential in every way.
Reaching their full potential from the point of view of jaw development is a vital piece in the jigsaw of their overall development.
Nose breathing encourages the jaw to grow as it should, allowing for better airway size (a vital aspect in the prevention of Sleep Apnea) and reduces the chances of our children developing crooked teeth as their is the right amount of space in their mouths to house all of their adult teeth when they come in.
Many children are not getting a deep, restorative sleep at night and this is affecting their mood and behaviour during the day.
The affects of airway issues in children are being observed by more and more paediatric dentists.
When we look at the sleep quality of children from a breathing perspective it is vital to establish whether your child is able to sleep comfortably at night with his or her mouth closed.
Working on the breathing exercises that train the children to breathe through their noses during the day and encouraging nasal breathing during the night is vital for the health and wellness of your child.
Many children have difficulty keeping their mouth closed as they have developed high, v-shaped upper arches in their mouths and upper jaw. This means that it is difficult for the child to correctly house their tongue and to have correct, healthy tongue posture with the tongue resting on the roof or their mouth.
A healthy airway and airway size is the key to preventing sleep issues.
Establishing light gentle breathing through the nose is a big part of the jigsaw in ensuring that your child has a deep, restorative sleep at night.
Over and over again I have observed children in primary schools who are obviously not getting a good night’s sleep.
It may be the obvious signs like yawning and looking tired but as a teacher the greatest indicator to me of children not having had a good night’s sleep is concentration issues in class, hyperactivity and constant talking instead of listening.
There are many studies about the connection between children’s sleep and hyperactivity.
The reason that so many children become hyperactive when they are sleep deprived is that they are behaving like that to keep themselves awake!
The connections between how our children breathe and the quality of sleep that they receive each and every night are immense.
If children have a mouth breathing habit during the day they are very likely to also breathe through their mouths when they are asleep. Why would they switch to nose breathing when asleep if they breathe all day through their mouths?
This has huge consequences for their brain development as they are not receiving the deep restorative sleep that they should each night to ensure healthy development of the brain.
It is during their sleep that children process all of the information and everything that they have learned during the day. If they are mouth breathing during their sleep their brains are receiving between 10 to 15 percent less oxygen during the night. This has a negative knock on effect for their growth and development.
Childhood Asthma is extremely common. When working with children who have asthma I focus on educating the children about the importance of nose breathing as a habit and how to learn to take back control of their breathing. My breathing programmes for asthma encourage empowerment in the children to have lifelong healthy breathing habits.
The exercises I teach and habits I encourage in the children allows the children to have more confidence in the way that they manage their asthma. If they have been prescribed medication by their doctor for Asthma it is very important that they use the medication when needed.
It is the experience of many asthmatics that when they practise healthy breathing habits, nose breathing whenever possible and when they learn to control their breathing there is less and less need for medication. Many of us have a genetic predisposition to Asthma but with healthy breathing patterns and habits we can manage and control the Asthma symptoms.
Free call to talk about your needs for 20 minutes. No charge and no commitment! Just a conversation about breathing.