Dream Big: The Power of Good Sleep

Many of the parents I work with wonder how much sleep their child needs. And, simple said - it depends. But it’s easy to find the answer by considering a few important questions: 

The first is, “Does my child receive enough sleep, rest and relaxation so he or she can learn, grow, participate and complete daily activities without becoming tired?” 

The next is, “Does my child have a physical space, such as a bedroom, that helps them sleep, rest, and relax? 

And the final question is, “Does my child have a social environment, such as a family routine or day care, that helps them sleep, rest and relax? 

When put together, these questions answer the larger and more pressing question of whether a child’s sleep, rest and relaxation pattern is contributing to his or her health, growth, and development. Because in the end, that’s what sleep is for. Sleep supports maintaining a healthy body that is strong and resists illness. Sleep also gives the body time to rest so it can build and repair tissue for growth. And, finally, sleep is a time when the brain gets to process, organize and store all the learning that happened that day. So while sleep is a singular activity, it works on many different levels within the body. 

Transcript

Hello and welcome to another episode of Proactive Parenting. Remember, this is a judgement-free space to learn how to raise value-driven kids in a way that is right for your family, using the most current scientific research out there. 

I’m your host, Dr. Deanna Marie Mason. I’m a certified pediatric nurse practitioner, published author, and a professional who has devoted my career to studying and using child development to help parents manage childhood issues. 

So, grab a cup of coffee or tea and settle in to learn something new about your child because when we know better, we do better. 

Many of the parents I work with wonder how much sleep their child needs. And, simple said - it depends. But it’s easy to find the answer by considering a few important questions: 

The first is, “Does my child receive enough sleep, rest and relaxation so he or she can learn, grow, participate and complete daily activities without becoming tired?” 

The next is, “Does my child have a physical space, such as a bedroom, that helps them sleep, rest, and relax? 

And the final question is, “Does my child have a social environment, such as a family routine or day care, that helps them sleep, rest and relax? 

When put together, these questions answer the larger and more pressing question of whether a child’s sleep, rest and relaxation pattern is contributing to his or her health, growth, and development. Because in the end, that’s what sleep is for. Sleep supports maintaining a healthy body that is strong and resists illness. Sleep also gives the body time to rest so it can build and repair tissue for growth. And, finally, sleep is a time when the brain gets to process, organize and store all the learning that happened that day. So while sleep is a singular activity, it works on many different levels within the body. 

Normally, after hearing these first three questions, most parents start to wonder, on average, how much sleep their child should have each day. And, again, the answer is that it depends. 

Each developmental period that children pass through puts different stresses on their bodies. Babies have bodies that are growing rapidly and while their brains are trying to process all the new sensory information. Small children are mastering body control and are very active in order to gain these skills. School age children start to slow in physical growth but speed up in mental load as they are introduced to organized learning. Teens again go through another huge physical change as well as learning about social constructs and interactions. Each age and stage create a different set of needs and the body’s need for rest and sleep changes based on those needs. 

That said, we know that there are some general norms on sleep that support growth and development during each period. While each child will differ slightly, the majority of children will fall within these ranges. Your child’s needs will vary slightly based on your family’s routine, cultural norms, and the child’s unique character. 

Our littles babies, newborns aged 0-21 days typically sleep about 16 hours each day. Half of this sleep will occur during the daytime. The longest stretch of sleep newborns will have will last between two and a half and four hours. 

Babies from 1-3 months typically sleep 15 hours each day. They will begin to organize their sleep more at night and less during the day. 

Babies from 3-6 months typically sleep 15 hours with daytime wakefulness and the majority of their sleep at night. 

Babies 6-12 months typically sleep 14-15 hours and sleep through the night. Their night sleep will be about 7-10 hours long with a morning and afternoon nap. 

Once our babies hit a year old, we can expect typical 1-2 year olds to sleep about 13.5 hours each day. The morning nap is generally given up between 12 and 24 months, but the afternoon nap can persist until 4-5 years. 

Little children ages 2-5 years will typically sleep 11-12 hours at night with a 1-2 hour nap after lunch. 

And our school age children ages 6-12 years will sleep 9.5 hours per night. It’s normal that this amount of sleep will reduce slightly as the child matures to 12 years. 

During adolescence, most teens need 8-9 hours of sleep per night. And many will add in late morning sleep-ins on the weekends. 

Many parents get a bit anxious when I explain how much their child should be sleeping for healthy growth and development. Many parents share horror stories about trying to get their little ones down to sleep at nap time or bedtime. Others will describe tricks to lure their baby to sleep like driving them around in a car or walking them around the neighborhood in a stroller to get them to nod off. 

The good news is that developing good sleep habits is just a learned skill. Children who sleep well have learned to put themselves to sleep and to stay asleep with the support of their parents. Good, restful sleep feels good to children the same way it feels good to us. When children have control over their bodies, and listen to the feedback they receive from their bodies, they don’t fight sleep. Rather they embrace it because they know how much sleep they need to be rested and ready to grow and learn. 

As parents we can support our children learning to sleep well by creating the appropriate sleep environment, allowing the right amount of time at home to be able to sleep the appropriate amount of hours needed at each age, and to teach the child a bedtime routine that gets their body ready to relax and go to sleep. Over time, children adopt the behaviors we teach and repeat nightly so it becomes easy for them to sleep well. 

If you would like to learn more specific information about how to get your child to sleep well, please take a listen to my audio course called, The Proven Method for Getting Your Kid to Sleep, Eat & Play Happily. This course is also available in a traditional book and E-book format. All three formats can be found and purchased on my webpage, proactiveparenting.com 

The research is clear that sleep is vital to our children’s growth and development. The benefits of good quality sleep will help our kiddos gain fine and gross motor skills faster, have longer endurance for activity, have an improved diet, achieve better academic scores, be able to practice improved social skills, and maintain a more even temperment, just to name a few. Helping our little ones and teens get the right about of sleep by supporting good sleep habits will set them up for success. 

The topic of sleep is always of interest to parents and I hope you learned something new about the importance of sleep for childhood development. As always, I welcome your comments or questions about this episode. Please don’t hesitate to connect with me at deanna@proactiveparenting.com. And if you want to find out more about who I am and what I do, please take a look at my webpage, proactiveparenting.com. 

You can also go to Facebook and Instagram to connect with other parents just like you. Find me by searching for my name - Deanna Marie Mason. Finally, if you would like to purchase any of my books, online courses, such as Newborn Care or Breastfeeding Bootcamp, or audio courses, such as The Proven Method for Getting Your Kid to Sleep, Eat & Play Happily, you can find all those resources on my webpage, again that is proactiveparenting.com 

Thanks so much for listening, I hope you found this episode useful and interesting. If you did, please leave a comment and tell a friend so they can become a Proactive Parent too! 

Well, that’s all from me for right now. This is Dr. Deanna Marie Mason signing off. I look forward to connecting with you again soon. Until then, take care and be well. Bye!