A Good Night’s Sleep
How much sleep does your child, adolescent or teenager need to grow happily and healthily? Well, it varies with the child and the age group they are in. Even babies vary in the amount of sleep they need. Some newborns need 18 hours a day, some 10 and a half hours. I had one of the short sleepers. Tough going when your friends babies seem to sleep much of the clock round and, as a result, seem to be more organised than you do. The wonderful side of it was that my son and I got to know one another really well and really quickly!
Some adults need very little sleep. Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of Britain, is reputed to have needed only four or five hours sleep a night despite running a country. I watched a TV programme once about a man who needed only 45 minutes sleep in any 24 hours. I seem to remember he went to bed with the rest of the family but was up within the hour working on hobbies in the loft. That would feel like being given two lives.
Most adults, though, need between seven to nine hours a night to function well and to not get physically or psychiatrically ill! But how do they get to that stage when some of them are born needing twice that amount?
The National Sleep Foundation, an American body, reckons this is how much sleep we need:
Newborns (up to two months)
10.5 – 18 hours
Infants (three to 11 months)
9 -12 hours at night and 30 minute to two hour naps, one to four times a day
Toddlers (one to three years)
12 -14 hours
Pre-schoolers (three to five years)
11- 13 hours
School aged children (five to 12 years)
10 to 11 hours
Teens (11 to 17 years)
8.5- 9.25 hours
Adults
7 – 9 hours
However, remember these are averages and don’t take account of the fact for example, the latest research which shows that teenagers cannot actually get to sleep that early because of changes going on in their brains.
So be realistic. A bedtime routine is important to set but it has to take account of how long the child or teenager needs to sleep – and when. If they are alert and healthy on less sleep than you think is good for them, what’s the problem?
© GEMS Education
