Special needs families often have one thing in common – lack of time and, in our case, lack of sleep! Imagine my excitement when I found out about these 5 house plants that can naturally improve sleep! Even if you aren’t a special needs family, these are definitely something that I would recommend due to the benefits that they provide. Whilst maybe not increasing the length of time that you are asleep, just imagine how much easier everything would be if the quality of your sleep was improved.
Sleep Strategies
We have implemented many strategies for improving sleep for our son as can be seen in this post. Nothing is perfect and, what works for one person, may not work for another. I, therefore, believe that the more ideas you have in your toolbox, the better!
Being a special needs parent can be very labour intensive so I can imagine your horror at the suggestion that you need to have plenty of house plants! However, let me reassure you, there are actually some very easy plants to care for that have some amazing benefits and would definitely make a great addition to your lives.
5 House Plants that can Naturally Improve Sleep
The following 5 plants all have amazing benefits and are my top picks for natural alternatives to some common problems. Problems that are not unique to special needs families but definitely are huge for us.
Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera is an easy plant to keep and has some amazing benefits. I think the most well known benefit is the gel that is harvested from the leaves. This gel is like first aid in a bottle and can be used for a lot of your ouchies. However, what you may not know is that this plant is great at improving air quality. By emitting oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide at night, it is a good plant to have in your bedroom to help improve your quality of sleep.
Spider Plant
I love this plant! NASA tests actually showed it to remove 90% of formaldehyde from the air. Formaldehyde is commonly found in household products like grout and fillers. Together with removing toxins it is also great at purifying the air by absorbing odours and fumes and maintaining oxygen levels not to mention its ability to absorb carbon monoxide. These qualities make it a great plant to have in your home and bedroom.
Peace Lily
This is such a pretty plant, even when not in flower. I’ve currently got 2 in our home and I’m working on more. It’s another one of NASA’s top plants for filtering out toxins and increasing the humidity of a room by up to 5%. All this plant really needs is to be kept out of direct sunlight and watering once a week. Not bad for the benefits that it can give. There is a downside to this plant, however. It is mildly toxic to both people and pets so no eating it!
English Ivy
NASA love this plant. Its a great plant to have in the bathroom having proven to remove 94% of airborne faeces and 78% of airborne mould in just 12 hours! Allergy and asthma sufferers could do worse than having this plant in their bedroom as studies have shown it to improve symptoms. This is the next plant that I will be introducing to my home. Please bear in mind that this plant must be kept away from children and pets. If eaten, it is poisonous! My plan is to have it hanging in the bathroom.
Snake Plant
This is a strange looking plant, one that I’ve come to love. The snake plant is also known as Mother in Law’s Tongue (such a great name and, when you see one, you’ll understand why). This is another great plant to have in the bedroom due to its night time activities. It gives out oxygen and absorbs the carbon dioxide that you naturally breathe out at night. Kind of a win win in my opinion.
There are other plants that also have many benefits but, if you’re anything like me, you need to keep things minimal. Everything must be easy care and tolerant of neglect. I am passionate about using natural methods to help my family but I’m also practical and realistic with regards to the amount of time that I have available.
Me-time is something that I try and incorporate into my day, something that I find quite a challenge. In this post, I give my top 3 tips for surviving PDA and, guess what? Plants are one of them!
What’s your greatest challenge in your special needs journey? Pop it in the comments below. I can’t guarantee that I have an answer but, together, maybe we can come up with some ideas.
Until next time, stay strong and grow plants ………..
Lyn
Photo credit: Shelby Miller
