The Power of the Outdoors

‘’Just like a bee needs a flower; a child needs nature’’ Brandi Rondinelli

Have you ever noticed how well you sleep after a good long walk or playing sports outdoors? Have you ever noticed your little one sleeping amazingly after a whole morning spent at the park?

I always found that if I spent at least a few hours outside with my toddler in the morning, she’d nap for an extra 30-60 minutes and go down more quietly at bedtime. Not only would she seem more ready to nap, actually pointing to her bedroom when we got home, but there’d be less whining and generally an improved mood – from both of us! Unless, of course, the weather was truly unbearable, getting out became my must-do for the day.

I’ve spoken to other mothers who also had very alert and active children (my little one was never much of a ‘sitter’) who had the same experience - especially parents who sent their child to forest school. Building on these anecdotal observations, on further investigation I wasn’t surprised to find lots of supporting scientific evidence for the relationship between time spent outdoors and sleep.

Two of the main biological factors impacting sleep are ‘sleep/wake homeostasis’, also known as sleep pressure, which is like the build-up of tiredness that impacts the ease of falling asleep and the duration of sleep. This is why wakeful windows (the amount of time your little one spends awake before they need sleep) are so important to an infant’s sleep (more to come on this soon!).

The second factor is the circadian rhythm, otherwise known as your body clock, which is heavily influenced by light exposure. What we learn from these internal biological systems is that keeping your little one awake for longer, won’t improve sleep, in fact it makes sleep more challenging as cortisol (a stress hormone) is released when a baby becomes over-tired. Instead, keeping them awake the appropriate length of time for their stage of development and individual needs, and thinking about what you do during that period is a more effective approach. You can think of this as letting them get all their energy out so they are ready to sleep, rather than over-tired from being kept awake too long. An often-overlooked factor here is time spent outdoors. This can have a great impact on sleep because of the physical activity but also the natural light exposure which impacts the circadian rhythm.

Having a look at some of the scientific research; Ostrin et al., (2018) found a positive relationship between parent and child time outdoors and sleep duration. In other words, the parents who spent more time outdoors with their child reported that their children slept longer than parents who spent less time outdoors with their child. Another study looked at this, as well as many other associations, and found even over a long-term period, that reducing screen time and increasing outdoor play improved children’s sleep (Xu et al., 2015). By ‘improved sleep’ they were specific, more night-time sleep, less night-time wakings and an earlier bedtime – all big bonuses for a parent! If you needed more convincing, a recent meta-analysis and review, a type of scientific analysis which assesses all the current literature on a topic and summarises the findings for the most reliable results, found that physical activity and outdoor play was favourably associated with sleep in toddlers and pre-schoolers (Janssen et al., 2020).

On the flip side, these researchers also noted the negative impact of screen time on all age groups under 5, the more screen time, the poorer they slept (Janssen et al., 2020). I do value the role that technology can play in our lives, I’ve built my own business entirely online, and devises can be not only entertaining but educational for children too. My point is to highlight whilst the science supports spending time outdoors can help a child’s sleep, it also repeatedly indicates that screen time can negatively impact sleep too. So, if you are thinking about introducing more outdoors time for your little one, also consider the amount of time they spend on devices.

I’m not suggesting that by simply keeping your child outdoors all day, they will magically sleep through the night. Sleep is a complex puzzle even for some adults, and especially for many babies and children. However, I find the sleep industry focuses heavily on aspects such as self-soothing and scheduling, when it’s important to take broader perspective. By doing this, you also optimise how gently you can improve your child’s sleep, without using any extreme measures. In my work with parents as a sleep consultant I always approach creating a bespoke plan with families by taking a truly holistic approach, considering many factors, including time outdoors and on devices. For more details on packages, read the services section on my website.