Sleep is a lifelong necessity, but every stage of childhood brings new sleep challenges for parents to manage. Young children may put up fights about going to bed but will also struggle with their moods when they miss nap time, and teens might have difficulty getting enough rest with the influence of social lives, homework responsibilities, and technology. Ensuring that your kids, and you, get good sleep and sleep enough, is a moving target throughout life. But through the changing needs and obstacles, it remains true that sleep provides an important foundation for cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being and growth.
Benefits of Good Sleep
During childhood and teenage years, sleep is when important aspects of brain development occur, including memory consolidation, learning and attention, and emotional processing. Memory consolidation is the process by which the brain stores, organizes, and reinforces the information that we learn throughout the day. Children are learning a lot of new information each day, and sleep can improve long-term memory, strengthen academic learning, help retain novel words and concepts, and support skill development. Children who get enough sleep have been found to be better able to sustain attention and filter out distractions, while sleep deprivation results in shorter attention spans and difficulty maintaining focus. When a child is getting sufficient sleep, executive functions improve, including working memory, planning, organization, problem solving, and cognitive flexibility (the ability to mentally adapt your thoughts and behaviors to changing situations). When children are sleeping well, they are better able to accurately interpret social cues, recognize facial expressions, respond appropriately to others, and regulate emotional responses with peers. In addition, children who sleep well display better abilities to cope with stress, regulate emotions, and reduce impulsivity
Sleep has also been found to support overall health, such as immune function and hormone regulation, and physical growth.
Risks of Poor Sleep
On the other hand, children who are sleep deprived may show more signs of poor executive function, struggling to focus, forgetting information, slower cognitive processing, greater difficulty sustaining learning, and more behavioral challenges, sometimes even appearing hyperactive or impulsive.
Research has linked poor sleep to the development of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, irritability, mood swings, and emotion dysregulation. However, there is a two-way relationship, where mental health challenges can disrupt sleep, and poor sleep can also worsen mental health symptoms.
When kids do not get enough sleep, or good enough sleep, they may also have increased difficulty waking up and experience daytime sleepiness. Long term health risks of consistently poor sleep include obesity, diabetes, and poor immune function.
How much sleep do children and teens need?
We often think of sleep as “taking a break” or “rest,” but the truth is that kid's bodies and brains are working hard to adapt and grow in many ways during sleep. At various stages of development, humans need different amounts of sleep to support the changes happening within the body and brain. The following are the hours of sleep that are recommended per age group by the Center for Disease Control.
|
Age Group |
Age |
Daily Hours of Sleep Recommended |
|
Newborn |
0-3 months |
14-17 hours |
|
Infant |
4-12 months |
12-16 hours |
|
Toddler |
1-2 years |
11-14 hours |
|
Preschool |
3-5 years |
10-13 hours |
|
School age |
6-12 years |
9-12 hours |
|
Teen |
13-17 years |
8-10 hours |
As you can see, the recommendations shift significantly across age groups, which makes sense. Newborns and infants are experiencing physical changes at a rapid rate, and taking in so much new information every day, which makes the time the body and brain get at night to consolidate information and replenish energy even more important.
Getting enough sleep and good quality sleep is important across the life span. However, as caregivers know, making time for sleep and encouraging sleep routines can be quite challenging. There are many behavioral interventions that can be helpful in creating good sleep habits, and a therapist can be a great partner in resolving issues with bedtime and sleep. Stay tuned for our next blog on good sleep hygiene and encouraging healthy sleep habits.