Normally an adult sleeps somewhere between 7-9 hours a day. It is no secret that children sleep more than adults. Babies sleep almost all day & night. Sleep times and patterns of babies and children gradually mature over the years as they grow older. Moreover, all babies and children do not sleep alike. This gives rise to the question in many parent’s minds – Is my child sleeping enough? How much sleep does my child need?
Also, as parents, do we always know when our children are not getting enough sleep? Do we know enough about how much sleep our children need? Are we taking enough care that our children get adequate sleep?
We have reviewed the medical literature available on ‘sleep’ to bring you authentic and accurate answers! So read on…
Why is sleep important for children?
Sleep is absolutely essential for a child to develop normally and to remain mentally and physically healthy. Growth hormone is secreted during sleep and therefore is essential for the normal growth of children. Also, lack of sleep has been linked to obesity and other metabolic consequences like diabetes and high blood pressure in later life. Sleep deprivation also makes our children more prone to injuries and accidents.
Good sleep is essential for the brain to function properly. Our brain consolidates and processes information “offline ‘ during sleep into long-term memory. This is important for learning and retaining new information for children. Adequate sleep also is required for proper perception and regulation of emotions in children. A child is fussy and irritable if sleep-deprived. Adequate sleep is essential for a happy and active child.
But how much sleep is enough for your baby?
How much sleep does a child need?
Given below are the National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations according to the age of the child. These are recommendations based on expert opinion and observational studies. We have also written about normal sleep patterns in each age group (in addition to the duration).
Newborn (0- 2 months)
Normally a newborn sleeps anywhere between 10-19 hours a day (average 13-14.5 hours). The day-night cycle is not established in babies and they tend to sleep all throughout. Your baby will have multiple brief periods of sleep separated by 1-2 hours of awake time. You may notice two types of sleep – Premature babies may sleep longer. Also, bottle-fed babies tend to sleep longer than breastfed babies. In the early months, your baby will have a period of quiet sleep when the baby sleeps quietly with regular breathing movements which are interrupted by a period of active sleep in which the baby shows movements in sleep such as sucking, smiling, and even startling. This is quite normal.
National Sleep Foundation recommends 14 and 17 hours of sleep time for newborns.
Sleep problems are extremely uncommon during this period. If your baby is not sleeping enough and remains fussy most of the time, there may be an underlying medical condition. Consult your doctor for it.
Infant (2 months to 1 year)
The total sleep time in infants averages around 12-13 hours a day. They usually sleep for 9-10 hours at night and take a daytime nap of 3-4 hours. However, there are variations in sleep times during infancy from one infant to another. From around 2- 3 months onwards, a baby is expected to sleep through the night till early morning. Nighttime waking decreases from around 2-3 times to once for one-year-olds.
How much average sleep do infants need?
National Sleep Foundation recommends 12 -15 hours of sleep for infants.
Toddler (1 year to 3 years)
There is a gradual decrease in sleep duration occurring as your toddler gets older; the greatest decrease in sleep occurs after 2 years of age. The total sleep time in toddlers averages between 11-13 hours. They sleep for 9-10 hours during the night and take a nap of 2-3 hours during the day. Nearly all children take a nap of 1 or 2 hours at 2 years and gradually most of them stop daytime napping by 4- 5 years. However, keep in mind that cultural differences and parental expectations may impact this behavior. Though most children learn to sleep through the night, waking up at night is relatively common. Up to 10% of toddlers wake up once per night and 50% wake up at least one night per week.
National Sleep Foundation recommends sleep of 11 to 14 hours in toddlers.
It is important to follow a bedtime routine at this age.
Preschoolers (3-6 years)
Preschooler usually sleeps for about 9-10 hours at night. They may take a nap during the day which typically stops at around 5 years of age. National Sleep Foundation recommends 10 and 13 hours in preschoolers.
School-age children (6-12 years)
School-age children sleep for around 10 hours at night and usually will not need a nap in the day. They can go to sleep by themselves, wake up on their own, and can sleep through the night without a problem. At this age, girls tend to sleep longer than boys.
Nation Sleep Foundation recommends school-aged children sleep between 9 and 11 hours.
Teenagers
For teenagers, nighttime sleep of 8 to 10 hours is considered appropriate. However, the sleep needs of most adolescents are unmet and they get to sleep around 7.5 to 8 hours a day. This is owing to late bedtime (homework, TV viewing, etc) and early rise. It is also seen that there is a significant difference in sleep in adolescents during the school days and weekends or vacation days. On non-school days, adolescents tend to sleep 1-2 hours later and wake up 1- 4 hours later. On average they sleep more on non-school days.
The trend of sleep pattern in children: Are children getting enough sleep?
The trend is that children are not getting enough sleep. This problem becomes more common in school children and adolescents. In addition to poor bedtime habits, academic pressure and electronics gadgets are mainly responsible. According to a study published in PLOS One, as much as 16% of 11-year-old’s and 40% of 15-year-old’s were sleep-deprived. Another study published in the Journal ‘Pediatrics’ showed that there has been a consistent decrease in sleep time of US adolescents over the last 20 years and aptly termed it as ” The great sleep recession”. Matricciani and colleagues studied the world literature on sleep over the last 100 years and concluded that the sleep time for adolescents and children is rapidly declining. So, is your child sleeping adequately? Or maybe, you could realize that your child is sleep-deprived too! That takes us to the next question below.
How good are parents in picking sleep inadequacy in their children?
It is prudent to think that parents who take care of children all the time will obviously know if their children are getting enough sleep. Isn’t? There is no denying that ” A mother knows everything’ when it comes to their children. Does this relate to our kid’s sleep too? In their paper titled Parent knowledge of children’s sleep: A systematic review, MacDowell and colleagues showed that parent’s knowledge about signs and consequences of a sleep problem in children was poor and they had vague knowledge about healthy sleep practices and children’s sleep needs.
Owens and colleagues reported in their paper that 76% of parents underestimated the child’s
sleep. Only 8% believed their child had inadequate sleep. They also pointed out that children of parents who underestimate sleep needs were less likely to get inadequate sleep. Also, parents with great knowledge about their child’s sleep are more likely to endorse a number of healthy sleep practices.
How to know if your child is getting enough sleep?
Don’t worry only because your child is not sleeping for enough time as per the recommendations. These are loose guidelines recommended by experts and are not backed by strong scientific evidence. Therefore mere deviation from this does not necessarily mean it is abnormal but the values surely are useful for a rough benchmarking. The quality of sleep may be more important than the absolute duration.
Signs of sleep inadequacy in children
Babies and children who are sleep-deprived can be fussy and clingy during the day and may take an unscheduled daytime nap. School-going children have a hard time concentrating and are accident-prone. They may also feel sleepy during the day and make up with extra hours of sleep through the weekend. They also quickly go to sleep as opposed to the 15-20 mins required for a normal child to fall asleep.
But don’t rely on your kid to tell if he/she needs more sleep. Remember that even sleep-deprived kids would insist that they are not sleepy if they are doing something interesting! But then how do you know if your kids had enough sleep?
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Is there any problem falling asleep?
- Does your child seem overtired or sleeps a lot during the day?
- Does your child wake up a lot at night?
- Is your child’s bedtime routine and wake-time regular?
- Does your child snore a lot or have difficulty sleeping at night?
Did you answer any of these sleep questions with a Yes? If Yes, it is possible that there could be some underlying problem. Consult your pediatrician.
Common sleep problems in young children and how to take care of them
1. Frequently waking up at night:
This is one of the commonest problems that parents of infants and young children face. We have discussed earlier that waking up at night decreases as the baby gets older. Both the frequency of waking up as well as the duration of time your baby remains awake after waking up at night decreases as your child grows older. Though almost half of all toddlers wake up sometime during the night, it is seldom considered worrisome by parents. If your toddler wakes up many times at night and it doesn’t seem okay to you, you must consult your doctor. Also, consider the following factors which could be responsible for your toddler waking up at night:
a) Excessive feeding at night:
Toddlers develop a habit of night-feeding, which in reality is not a necessity. This is typical behavior that stops spontaneously as your child ages.
What should you do? You may wait and watch as this will improve over time. If excessive feeding is really disrupting your and your baby’s night sleep, be sure to consult your doctor. Your doctor might suggest some structured schedule for decreasing the feeding at night. These schedules are usually very effective.
b) Separation issues
Starting around 9 months, babies experience distress if they are separated from their parents. Though this is normal, a toddler may find it difficult to go to sleep without their mother around and they may wake up frequently at night looking for their mother. But the baby usually learns to cope and grows out of it with time.
What should you do? Use some ‘transitional objects‘ like blankets or stuffed toys in the bed as the baby sleeps. This may help your baby smoothly sail through and cope with separation anxiety that disrupts his/ her sleep.
c) Temperament:
Do you consider your baby to be a ‘difficult child’? There are several studies that show a connection between ‘difficult temperament’ and disrupted nighttime sleep in young children. However these studies, at best can be considered as limited evidence. The two most common attributes that can be linked with sleep problems in children are their decreased ability to ‘self soothe’, and a lower sensory threshold (being too sensitive to stimulus).
What should you do? It usually doesn’t need any specific sleep treatment. Also, any sleep intervention may not be successful if this ‘behavioral’ connection is not appreciated and addressed. Be sure to discuss this behavior with your doctor if you think it may not be normal.
c) Co-Sleeping:
It is seen that toddlers who co-sleep with their mothers wake up more often compared to those who sleep alone. However, the degree to which this night waking is considered a problem varies from family to family.
What should you do? If you are co-sleeping there is no need to make separate sleeping arrangements for your baby. There will be usually other factors also which might be affecting your child’s sleep. Look for these factors and address them. If you were anyway considering letting your child sleep alone, then go ahead and try it.
2. Resisting Going to bed:
This is the second most common problem most parents face. Some children also may have a problem going to sleep and want to avoid going to bed. This results in the child showing bedtime resistance. Once put to bed, your child may make up several requests to get out of bed. Say, for example, your child may want you to get water to drink, ask you to get her toy or ask you something to eat. He/she may also want to engage you to spend more time in out of bed activities. Your baby may also show resistance by crying or opposing to go to bed. Up to 20% of 3-year-olds and 10% of 4-year-olds may show such a problem. In addition to the problems discussed above the following factors may influence your baby’s bedtime struggle.
a) Bedtime routines and environments
Consistent bedtime routines help children to make a smooth transition from daytime-level activity to a sleepy mood. The transitional activity and sleep environment should be such that it is quite relaxed and more conducive to sleep onset. On the other hand, irregular schedules and highly stimulating bedtime activities would have a sleep disruptive effect.
What should you do? Maintain a consistent sleep routine. Keep TV and mobile phones away from the bedroom. Creating a soothing environment by switching off or dimming the lights and engaging in conversations or storytelling can be beneficial.
b) Fears and anxieties:
Bedtime is a common time of fear for children. They may be scared about thieves, monsters, ghosts, or may have fear of darkness. Sometimes these fears may be ill-defined and your baby may not be able to tell what’s bothering him or her.
What should you do? Never tell scary stories and do not scare them (of monsters or ghosts) to go to bed. Most of the time you can gently reassure your baby and that works well. If your baby is scared of the dark, keeping a dim light on can be a good idea.
c) Medical Conditions:
If your child has certain medical conditions like cerebral palsy, autism, or developmental disabilities, it may affect their sleep. If your child is taking certain medications, that may too affect sleep. Acute illnesses like fever or blocked nose also can cause a sleeping problem for that period of time.
What should you do? Consult your doctor. Follow all good sleep practices.
3. Sleep-onset association problem
This is a common problem many parents encounter. Sometimes sleep onset of the child becomes dependent on something we do to help them sleep. The most problematic and common examples are rocking to sleep, bottle-feeding, or nursing at bedtime. As a parent, we usually do this to help our babies fall asleep sooner. But sometimes they become so reliant that they cannot go to sleep without it. Even when they wake up at night you may need to bottle feed or nurse them without which they may not be able to go back to sleep. They will cry or otherwise keep demanding it, making it a difficult situation for both you and the baby.
What should you do? This is something difficult to break. It is good to feed the child around bedtime to bring feeding to the beginning of the bedtime routine. That means you feed the child around bedtime but don’t let the child sleep sucking on the breast or feeding on the bottle. You should try and develop a new sleep habit for the child that doesn’t require you to be around. Say listing to soothing music, hugging her toy, etc. You need to be creative and find what works for you and your kid. And once you find something then reinforce that habit.
Closing summary:
These are the important points you can squeeze out as a summary –
- Adequate sleep is absolutely important for your child’s mental and physical wellbeing
- There is a gradual decrease in the sleep duration of babies as they grow up to adolescence. Newborn babies sleep up to 19 hours a day that decreases to around 11-14 hours a day by 3 years which further decreases to 8-10 hours a day during adolescence.
- Newborn babies wake up several times at night. This decreases to 2-3 times at 3 months and further to 1 time at night for 1-year olds. Waking up at night further decreases, yet 50% of toddlers wake up at night at least once a week.
- Your infant baby (younger than 1 year of age) will take a daytime nap of 3-4 hours. This decreases to 2-3 hours nap during the day in the second year of life. Nearly all children take a nap of 1-2 hours at 2 years and gradually most stop day time napping by 4- 5 years.
- Nowadays, more and more children and adolescents are not getting enough sleep. Is your child one of them? Remember, we and our kids are often poor judges of sleep deprivation. So, we need to be mindful.
- However, note that these numbers are not sacrosanct, and don’t look at them in isolation to decide if your child is getting enough sleep or not.
Did you find the answers to your question here? Is your child getting enough sleep? Please share it if you find it useful. Also, please let us know below in the comment section how do you maintain your child’s bedtime routine.
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