The importance of sleep for children
Parents know all too well that a lack of sleep turns children into Gremlins, prompting behaviour swings that are difficult to manage.
But a lack of sleep can also stunt the development of the young mind, affecting memory, attention, vocabulary, mood, and resilience.
While all children struggle to sleep sometimes, chronic sleep disorders like behavioural insomnia in childhood are something to consider. Those sleepless nights soon add up and can strip your child of much-needed development.
Sleep and children
Studies show that children who get adequate sleep behave and concentrate better and perform better in the classroom. Sleep also directly affects happiness, especially in young children who need regular naps to refresh.
Sleep is also critical for growth – it is the only time the body releases HGH (Human Growth Hormone), which spurs growth in children and adolescents.
Your child also needs sleep for immunity – children who sleep less get sick more often and are at increased risk of dangerous diseases.
So sleep is critical for:
- Your child’s memory, concentration, happiness, and learning.
- Your child’s physical growth and recovery.
- Your child’s immunity, so they don’t get sick.
Sleep is essential.
However, sleep problems in young children are relatively common, with 20-30% of children affected by them under the age of ten.
Why is my child not getting enough sleep?
Slack parenting
We hate to say it, but it could be you.
Simply put, your child should have a set sleep time, and you should not deviate from it, even if it means putting off your activities.
One of the common problems is treating children’s sleeping times like adult times – children need over 30% more sleep than adults!
If you take your child to bed when you go to bed and expect them to get up when you do, don’t be surprised when they are incredibly moody.
Here are some basic sleep guidelines for children:
- 4 to eleven months – 12 to 15 hours
- 1 to 2 years old – 11 to 14 hours
- 3 to 5 years old – 10 to 15 hours
- 6 to 13 years old – 9 to 11 hours
- 14 to 17 years old – 8 to 10 hours
Compare this to an average of 7 to 9 hours of sleep for adults, and you can see the enormous disparity between what is healthy.
Bad sleep hygiene
Sleep hygiene refers to helping your child settle to sleep and stay asleep. Usually, this involves winding down activities and rules for what is acceptable at bedtime, and toys and stimulative activities are out the window.
Your child’s bedtime should promote calmness, but to create it, you need to think about a few different things:
- Food and drink – no caffeine six hours before bedtime. No sugar or sweets three hours before bedtime.
- Exercise – children sleep better when they are active during the day. Keep your child busy to burn off energy.
- Environment – remove toys from the bedroom and put only books in there. Use a nightlight so that your child isn’t stimulated by bright light.
- Technology – eliminate tablet and smartphone screen time an hour before bedtime so that blue light does not affect sleep.
Sleep disorders
It’s important to note that most children do not have sleep disorders and require only a few bedtime changes to sleep better.
However, some children have sleep disorders, making falling asleep and staying asleep difficult. Paediatric sleep disorders are an area of intense study, and many disorders like apnea and insomnia have medical solutions.
Here are the primary paediatric disorders:
- Arousal Disorders
- Snoring
- Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS)
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
- Central Sleep Apnea (CSA)
- Restless Legs Syndrome
- Insomnia
- Nightly Sleep Behaviours/Parasomnias
Have a read of those and see if anything matches the sleep behaviour of your children. If any of them do, speak to your GP. The good news is that children grow out of many sleep disorders and sleep perfectly fine.