How Much Should The Child Sleep For Their Age?
It is very common for children to suffer from sleep disorders, especially when there is no routine to help them sleep.
We must organize ourselves and know exactly how much a child should sleep according to their age. In this way, we can avoid any problems you may have in the future due to lack of rest.
how much should a child sleep
Sleeping the necessary hours will allow children to develop correctly, whether physically or mentally. According to the recommendations of the Academy of Pediatrics of the United States, in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine , these would be the amounts of hours a child should sleep according to their age:
From 4 months to 1 year
A newborn baby usually needs 16 to 17 hours of sleep. During the night it sleeps 9 hours, while the rest is distributed throughout the day.
As the child grows, these hours are reduced. At the end of the first year of life, you should sleep 11 hours at night and 3 hours during the day.
From 1 to 3 years old
When the child is 1 to 2 years old, they should rest for 10 to 14 hours a day. Between the ages of 2 and 3, he begins to skip naps during the day. It is important that in their early years, children sleep at least 10 hours a day.
From 4 to 5 years
At this stage, she begins to sleep between 10 and 12 hours during the night. From that moment on, you no longer need to take naps, unless you are very tired. In such cases, it is not harmful to take a nap after eating. The child must get enough sleep to do well at school.
From 6 years old
As the child grows and develops, the hours of sleep decrease. Between the ages of 6 and 8, you will need to sleep for 11 to 12 hours. And between the ages of 10 and 12, it needs at least 10 hours.
In the case of adolescents over 13 years of age, the required rest time is 8 to 10 hours.
Benefits of Proper Rest
Rest is essential for children and teenagers. Getting enough sleep will allow them to have the energy they need to carry out their day-to-day tasks and perform better at school. Know some advantages of resting correctly:
- Better concentration.
- Emotional regulation.
- Best behavior.
- Improved quality of life.
- Greater ability to learn.
Consequences of not sleeping enough hours
In the same way that resting for an adequate number of hours has many benefits, not doing so can have very negative effects for children: energy reserves and the ability to learn can be greatly impaired. Some consequences of not getting enough sleep:
- Children who sleep fewer hours than necessary generally perform poorly in school.
- Furthermore, they have a much slower language development.
- When you sleep less, you’re losing an important part of your REM sleep. This phase is essential for the child to record in their memory what they learned during the day and for their brain to recover.
- Sleep deficits can also affect a child’s immune system. Which can make them more likely to have colds, flu and other infectious processes.
- Children who sleep only 5 hours are twice as likely to become an obese adult.
Tips to help your child sleep
As parents, it is very important to know how much sleep a child should sleep, and if you are having difficulty getting your child to sleep or if your child is not in the habit of getting enough sleep, it is necessary to make this habit.
With these actions, you can help the child to start to rest as much as his body needs:
- It is important that the child sleeps in a comfortable bed, in an environment with dim lights and a comfortable temperature.
- It’s best not to have visitors, games, or loud music that can disturb your sleep.
- Avoid drinking caffeinated beverages after midday.
- Create a routine before bedtime.
- Always wake up the child at the same time and encourage him to sleep without the need for the parents to be present.
Now that we know how much a child should sleep for their age, it’s important to take steps to help them sleep properly. There are many consequences of not getting enough sleep, and with the habits mentioned above, we can avoid low performance today and big problems in the future.
