By Sandra Saade Lemus, MD
Pediatric neurologist and sleep medicine specialist at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital
About Dr. Saade Lemus
Children have different sleep needs than adults. The quality and quantity of their children’s sleep are a common concern for many parents. This concern is well founded, as sleep plays a critical role in their growth and development. In fact, sleep is just as important to a child’s well-being as physical activity and proper nutrition.
Sleep Needs with Age
Estimating the right amount of sleep for your child can be challenging, as children have different sleep needs than adults. And those needs — and sleep timing — shift throughout childhood. What’s appropriate for a baby or toddler is certainly not optimal for a teenager. Over the years, many parents find themselves shifting from worrying whether their child is going to bed early enough to wondering if they are sleeping in too late.
To help shed some light on this tricky topic for parents, the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine published recommendations from a panel of experts for suggested total sleep times at different ages in 2016. Their recommendations are as follows:
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Infants (4 to 12 months): 12 to 16 hours a day, including naps
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Toddlers (1 to 2 years): 11 to 14 hours a day, including naps
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Children (3 to 5 years): 10 to 13 hours a day, including naps
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Children (6 to 12 years): 9 to 12 hours a day
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Teenagers (13 to 18 years): 8 to 10 hours a day
For many parents, these sleep duration recommendations may be higher than they expected. They’re also much higher than most parents themselves are getting, but that’s a topic for another day. While good sleep is important for everyone, it’s particularly critical for your child’s body and brain as they are growing, developing, and maturing.
You may notice younger infants (less than 3 months of age) are not included. This is because sleep at this age is not expected to be continuous. Babies younger than 3 months may sleep up to 16 to 18 hours per day, typically in short stretches of only 3 to 4 continuous hours, interrupted by frequent feedings. Sleep is expected to consolidate (or happen more during the night hours with daytime naps) after 3 months of age.
The Importance of Good Sleep
Why is good sleep duration so important for children? The panel of experts at the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine noted several reasons. For one, children who slept the recommended number of hours on a regular basis consistently had better outcomes in the following categories:
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Physical health
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Mental health
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Attention span
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Behavior
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Capacity to learn
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Memory
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Emotional regulation
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Overall quality of life
Conversely, low sleep duration is tied to several health problems, including higher risks of:
In addition, sleepiness can present as hyperactivity and inattention in children, so poor sleep can directly contribute to these issues in young children.
As your child grows into their teenage years, sleep schedules may gradually change and bring on a new set of challenges. Sleep/wake cycles can shift by as much as two hours during the adolescent years, meaning many teenagers naturally prefer a later bedtime and a later wake-up time, yet teenagers are still required to get to school fairly early. This is why maintaining a consistent bedtime and wake-up time during weekdays and weekends is crucial to help teens meet their sleep goals.
How to Meet These Sleep Goals
Of course, meeting sleep duration goals is often easier said than done, but a few simple strategies can help keep your family on track. A key foundation for healthy sleep is a predictable daily routine. Sticking to a regular schedule on both weekdays and weekends is especially important for teens, as it helps their bodies know when it’s time to wind down and prepare for bed and when it’s time to wake up and start the day. When the whole household follows a similar rhythm, evenings feel calmer, and mornings become more predictable.
Prioritizing healthy nutrition and regular physical activity every day also plays an important role, as both support the body’s internal clock (circadian rhythm) and promote more restful sleep.
Creating a relaxing and repetitive bedtime routine is another key to promoting better sleep. For younger children, this may include quiet activities like reading before bed, as well as keeping the bedroom cool, dark, and comfortable at all ages. It’s best to maintain minimal stimuli inside children’s bedrooms, keeping fun toys, games and posters outside of the sleep space if possible.
As children grow older, it’s important to minimize screen time leading up to bedtime and to keep screens out of the bedroom altogether. Curbing caffeine consumption in the evenings is also especially important for older children and teenagers. Caffeine can be found in iced teas, chocolate and sodas, as well as energy drinks, and coffee.
Problems to Look Out For
Another key to promoting good sleep-in children is recognizing sleep problems early and addressing them with the help of your health care team. Up to 50% of children experience a sleep problem at some point, making it far from uncommon.
If your child regularly has trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, or shows daytime symptoms such as sleepiness, irritability, behavior challenges, learning difficulties, or trouble focusing, it’s important to talk with your pediatrician. Your pediatrician may want you to see a sleep medicine specialist, particularly if your child experiences frequent snoring, sleepwalking, recurring nightmares or night terrors, trouble falling or staying asleep, or excessive daytime sleepiness.