Summer Sleep Solutions
How much sleep is enough?
Sleep is especially important for children as it directly impacts mental and physical development. According to the National Sleep Foundation, children spend 40 percent of their childhood asleep. How much sleep a child needs varies with age, and some children need more sleep than others.
Generally, kids under age four need 10 to 12 hours of sleep at night, says Birnbaum. (So if they go to bed at 8 pm and are up between 6 am and 8 am, they’re probably getting enough nighttime sleep.) “Kids who go to bed later at night get a poorer quality of sleep as sleep cycles are longer in the early part of the evening,” she says. “It’s also important to remember that a good nap can’t make up for a bad sleep at night.”
To avoid early wakeups in the summer, you can invest in a blackout shade for your child’s window, but an even better strategy is to get them to bed earlier. “If your child is waking up before 6 am, they probably need an earlier bedtime,” says Birnbaum. “It’s the whole ‘sleep begets sleep’ idea.”
It’s all about balance, Birnbaum adds. An occasional missed nap or late bedtime may not have a huge impact, but several days of erratic sleep schedules can build up. Here is the Canadian Paediatric Society’s general recommendation for the amount of sleep children need over a 24-hour period, including nighttime sleep and naps.
Newborns (birth to 6 months): 16 hours of sleep a day (3 to 4 hours at a time)
Older babies (6 months to 1 year): 14 hours of sleep a day
Toddlers (1 to 3 years): 10 to 13 hours of sleep a day
Preschoolers (3 to 5 years): 10 to 12 hours of sleep a day
