Sleep is such an important time for the body and mind to rest and repair. It's just as crucial as balanced nutrition and sufficient activity for kids of all ages. How well children sleep has a major influence on their overall quality of life. When kids obtain an adequate amount of sleep, research has seen that they have improved attention, behavior, learning, and memory. So, let’s help make sure our kiddos get the ZZZs they need.

The Positive Effects of Sleep for Children

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) “a quarter of children under the age of 5 don’t get adequate sleep.” The American Medical Association (AMA), the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the AAP “found that in adolescents, inadequate sleep can have long-term effects on academic and mental health.” They further go on to state that they consider “chronic sleep loss in adolescents to be a public health problem, and it's a risk factor for car crashes, sports injuries, and more. 

The recommendations for the amount of sleep children need varies based on age. The AAP recommends infants under 1 year need 12-16 hours, children 1-2 years old need 11-14 hours, children 3-5 years old need 10-13 hours, children 6-12 years old need 9-12 hours, and teenagers 13-18 years old need 8-10 hours. A study from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia found that “the repercussions of sleep deprivation are visible after only four nights of one fewer hour of sleep per night.” 

Sleep is important for children’s growth and development. The growth hormone is mainly secreted during deep sleep, according to sleep researchers, and researchers in Italy found that children with deficient levels of growth hormone sleep less deeply than average children do. Proper amounts of sleep have been found to assist immune health as well. Certain studies with teenagers found that the longer they slept, the less likely they were to become ill. This was found in part to be due to cytokine production. Cytokines are specific proteins that our bodies use to fend off infection and illness. They discovered that inadequate sleep appears to impact the number of cytokines available.

There's also increasing evidence that getting too little sleep can contribute to children becoming overweight. One reason may be due to leptin. Fat cells create the hormone leptin, which signals one to stop eating; however, sleep deprivation may impact this hormone. Another reason may be that research has seen that when children are more tired, just like adults, they crave higher-fat and higher-carb foods. How much sleep a child gets can clearly affect the brain in a variety of ways too.

Ample sleep has been found to be beneficial for boosting learning; however, it has been seen in certain research that children who consistently sleep fewer hours than what is recommended for their age have displayed hyperactivity, impulsivity, and distractibility. It has been found in one study with school-age kids that “adding as little as 27 minutes of extra sleep per night makes it easier for them to manage their moods and impulses, so they can focus on schoolwork.”

Tips for Helping Kids Get Good Sleep

Establishing a consistent bedtime routine is imperative starting as far back as infancy. The routine should ideally start at the same time every night no matter how old your child is. It is more difficult to maintain this the older your children get, as school-age children often begin to have busy schedules that can make it difficult to get a good night’s sleep. Their demands and obligations with added homework and extracurricular activities may begin having a detrimental effect on sleep time. If so, try to reign them in with their outside activities and also screen time. A compounding issue with teens is that they may begin to stay up later and get up later in the morning. This makes getting up for school much more difficult and may begin to affect their learning and retention ability. Try to keep them on track as best as possible during the week and over the weekend also, so it won’t be so hard to wake during the week.

When the sun goes down, parents should start to wind down the household by dimming the lights, stopping use of electronics/screens at least an hour before bed, and maintaining the bedtime routine of brushing teeth, reading a short book, etc. Try to stick to this routine as much as possible, as research show “two hours of screen time right before bed is enough to lower levels of melatonin by 22 percent.” Also, be sure to consider other important steps such as keeping the room cool, and if necessary, using blackout curtains or noise machines to assist getting to and staying asleep.

Daytime habits are just as important as nighttime routines. Habits such as when foods and beverages have been consumed throughout the day, as well as what types were consumed. Avoid caffeine, large meals, and sugary treats before bedtime, as these can disrupt sleep. New research from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 73% of kids consume some caffeine on any given day from soft drinks, energy drinks, and coffee. The AAP suggests that kids shouldn’t consume any caffeine at all.

Studies show that kids are sleeping much less these days than they used to due to various reasons. School activities, technology, and packed schedules also all contribute to less sleep, and it’s critical for them to get enough or their health will suffer. Look at their routine and see if it’s time for an overhaul. Pick one thing to change, and go from there.