Page 36 - Education February 2022 final_Neat

Is your child getting

enough sleep?

roadly speaking, sleep ranks right up there with times of the day serve different functions. That is one 12-18 years old: Sleep needs remain just as vital to
nutrition, nurture and safety when considering reason why the timing of naps is important, and why health and wellbeing for teenagers as when they were
Bwhat’s crucial in our children’s lives. Getting our they need to occur in sync with your child›s natural younger. It turns out that many teenagers actually may
little ones into a good sleep pattern is more important biological rhythms. need more sleep than in previous years. Stick as close
than many of us realise. Although it might not seem to 10 hours per night as best as possible. However,
apparent, a large proportion of children do not get What is our body clock? many teens usually only get about 8 hours in.
the critical sleep they need to develop and function
properly. This isn’t something we as parents do on We wake; we are alert; we become drowsy; we sleep. A few facts to sleep on
purpose, it’s something we don’t think much about; These fluctuations all happen as part of our natural
and there lies our problem. daily biological rhythms. The rhythms are irregular in Children do not “outgrow” sleep problems; problems
the first few months of life, but gradually become more must be solved.
regular and develop with maturity. When sleep is in
So what is GOOD sleep? sync with these rhythms, it is most restorative. When
A child’s brain develops largely while they sleep. out of sync, it can disturb the rest of the rhythm or
Getting enough hours of sleep, grouped with cycle resulting in your child becoming overtired and
uninterrupted (good quality) sleep, age appropriate stressed. So it is important to be aware of the timing of
naps and a routine that is in line with your child’s body your child›s sleep needs and adjust your schedule as
clock are a few things you need to ensure your child is best you can to be in sync with hers.
achieving.
How long should our children be
Why your child needs lots of sleep? sleeping?
Children exhibit the largest amount of slow wave 1-4 weeks old: Newborns typically sleep about 15 to
(deep) sleep. Studies correlate this slow wave sleep 18 hours a day, but only in short periods of two to
with brain development. In fact, brain scans have four hours. Premature babies may sleep longer and
demonstrated that areas of the brain receiving these colicky ones shorter. Since newborns do not yet have
slow waves show increased growth and development an internal biological clock, or circadian rhythm, their
in response. REM sleep is also important and plays a sleep patterns are not related to the daylight and night
major role in developing the visual related parts of the time cycles. In fact, they tend not to have much of a
brain. pattern at all.
Healthy sleep allows little people (and adults) to 1-4 months old: By 6 weeks of age your baby is
function optimally when we are awake, to have what beginning to settle down a bit, and you may notice
is called optimal alertness. We have all experienced more regular sleep patterns emerging. The longest
varying degrees of being awake, from groggy to alert periods of sleep run four to six hours and now tends to
to hyper-alert. Being optimally alert is the state in occur more regularly in the evening and should amount
which we are most receptive to and interactive with to a total of 14 - 15 hours per day.
our environment, when we have the greatest attention
span and can learn the most. 4-12 months old: While up to 15 hours is ideal, most
infants up to 11 months old get only about 12 hours of
In the British Medical Journal, there is an interesting sleep. Establishing healthy sleep habits is a primary
report on the Millennium Cohort Study. Having followed goal during this period, as your baby is now much
11,000 children, the study demonstrates the relationship more social, and his sleep patterns are more adult-like.
of sleep to brain development in our little ones.
Children who demonstrated irregular bedtimes up to Babies typically have three naps and drop to two at
the age of three were the most negatively affected around 6 months old, at which time (or earlier) they
when it came to reading, math skills and spatial are physically capable of sleeping through the night.
awareness. When irregular patterns continued, children Establishing regular naps generally happens at the
sustained developmental lagging so to speak even, latter part of this time frame, as the biological rhythms
well into primary school. A Canadian study published mature.
in the Sleep journal also found that children sleeping 1-3 years old: As your child moves past the first year
less than ten hours a night before age three were more toward 18-21 months of age he/she will likely lose their
likely to exhibit language and reading problems as well morning and early evening nap and nap only once a
as ADHD. In both studies, these problems persisted day. While toddlers need up to 14 hours a day of sleep,
despite improvement in total sleep time after the age they typically get only about 10.
of three.
What we are seeing here is the relationship of sleep to Most children from about 21 to 36 months of age still
neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity refers to structural and need one nap a day, which may range from one to
functional changes in the brain brought on by training three and a half hours long. They typically go to bed
and experience. It is the ability of the brain to change between 7pm and 9pm and wake up between 6 am
by increasing brain tissue and to alter the brain circuits and 8 am.
called synapses. Adults are capable of these changes 3-6 years old: Children at this age typically go to bed
but on a much smaller scale. The most crucial period between 7pm and 9pm and wake up around 6am and
for these kinds of brain changes is probably during the 8am. Try to fit in 12 hours of sleep at this age bearing
first three years of life. in mind that naps gradually become shorter, as well.
New sleep problems do not usually develop after age 3.
Where do naps fit in to all this? 7-12 years old: At these ages, with social, school, and
Naps play a large role in the healthy sleep of children. family activities, bedtimes gradually become later and
They help optimize your child›s alertness and have later, with many 12-years-olds going to bed at about
an impact on their learning and development. Naps 9pm. Try and stick to the 10-12 hour time frame as best
are also quite different from night sleep. Not only as possible – with hectic schedules, your children don’t
are they not the same kind of sleep, naps at different realise how much sleep they actually need.