At Sun Pediatrics, your child’s health and well-being is our top priority. We consider every component of your child’s day-to-day activity and how they can best benefit from healthy lifestyle choices.
A question we get quite frequently is “how much sleep does a child need?” In this post we are going to discuss the importance of your child getting a good night’s rest. This is especially important to keep in mind now with the recent change from daylight savings time. Routines tend to change and for some children, sleep can fall by the wayside.
Every Hour Counts
Recently the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a Statement of Endorsement, supporting the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) guidelines outlining the recommended sleep interval for children from infants to teens. Here is what they had to say:
Sleeping the number of recommended hours on a regular basis is associated with better health outcomes including: improved attention, behavior, learning, memory, emotional regulation, quality of life, and mental and physical health. Regularly sleeping fewer than the number of recommended hours is associated with attention, behavior, and learning problems. Insufficient sleep also increases the risk of accidents, injuries, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and depression.
There’s no question that each night of sleep is something worth stabilizing and protecting. If we think about sleep like we think about feeding our families, we have to ensure that our children get the proper amount of hours of sleep each day!
Parents Ask: How much sleep does a child need?
For optimal health, children should keep a consistent bedtime. This helps during the school year, but is also appropriate for the summer as well. And while the recent change to daylight savings time can be challenging to manage, strive to keep total hourly sleeping goals in mind.
Sleeping Hours Recommended by Age
12 – 16 hours per day, including naps
11 – 14 hours of sleep, including naps.
10 – 13 hours of sleep, including naps
9 – 12 hours per day
8 – 10 hours of sleep
More Questions? Visit Sun Pediatrics in Marietta and East Cobb
How much sleep does a child need? Ask Dr. Hari of Sun Pediatrics. And don’t forget to re-read our article for tips and techniques to get your child to sleep, too.
