Sleeping patterns for children

Sleep & sleep cycles: babies, kids, teens

Why is sleep important?

Sleep restores children physically. It helps them learn and remember things, and it boosts immunity. And sleep helps children grow. For example, children’s bodies produce growth hormone when they’re asleep. Children often need more sleep at times of rapid growth.

Children of all ages need to get enough sleep so they can play, learn and concentrate during the day.

Sleep at different ages

Babies, children and teenagers need different amounts of sleep.

Also, sleep patterns change as babies and children get older. For example, as babies grow, they begin to sleep less during the day and more at night. And children generally need less sleep as they grow older.

Children’s sleep needs and patterns vary, so the information below is just a guide. Your child’s sleep might be different.

Babies under 6 months: when and how much they sleep

Newborns
Newborns sleep on and off during the day and night. They sleep for 14-17 hours every 24 hours.

They have two different kinds of sleep – active sleep and quiet sleep. In active sleep your baby moves around. You might see jerking, twitching or sucking. In quiet sleep your baby is still and breathing evenly.

Newborns move through active and quiet sleep in cycles that last about 50-60 minutes. They might wake up after a sleep cycle and need help getting back to sleep.

Babies 3-6 months
By three months, babies start to develop night and day sleep patterns, and they tend to start sleeping more during the night. Babies usually sleep for 12-15 hours every 24 hours.

At 3-6 months, babies might start moving towards a pattern of 2-3 daytime sleeps of up to two hours each. They might still wake at least once at night.

Babies 6-12 months: when and how much they sleep

Sleep during the night
As babies develop, more of their sleep happens at night.

At this age, most babies are ready for bed between 6 pm and 10 pm. They usually take less than 40 minutes to get to sleep, but about 1 in 10 babies takes longer.

Babies might be having long sleeps of six hours at night by the time they’re six months old.

Almost two-thirds of babies wake only once during the night and need an adult to settle them back to sleep. About 1 in 10 babies calls out 3-4 times a night.

More than a third of parents say their babies have problems with sleep at this age.

Sleep during the day
Most babies aged 6-12 months are still having daytime naps. These naps usually last 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Some babies are difficult to settle or wake a lot at night. A positive bedtime routine can help your baby settle to sleep. Phasing out sleep habits like rocking baby to sleep can also make it more likely baby will settle themselves when they wake in the night. But if you’re happy to resettle your baby each time they wake during the night, that’s just fine.

Toddlers: when and how much they sleep

Toddlers need 11-14 hours of sleep every 24 hours. Usually this is a sleep of 10-12 hours a night, and a nap of 1-2 hours during the day.

Some toddlers aren’t keen on going to bed at night. Often this is because they’d like to stay up with the family. This is the most common sleep problem reported by parents. It peaks around 18 months and improves with age.

Less than 5% of two-year-olds wake three or more times overnight.

Preschoolers: when and how much they sleep

Children aged 3-5 years need 10-13 hours of sleep a night.

Some preschoolers might also have a day nap that lasts for about an hour.

School-age children: when and how much they sleep

Children aged 5-11 years need 9-11 hours of sleep a night.

From about five years of age, children no longer need a day nap if they’re getting enough sleep overnight.

Primary school-age children are usually tired after school and might look forward to bedtime from about 7.30 pm.

Teenagers: when and how much they sleep

Children entering puberty generally need about 8-10 hours of sleep a night to maintain the best level of alertness during the day.

Changes to the internal body clock or circadian rhythm during adolescence mean it’s normal for teenagers to want to go to bed later at night – often around 11 pm or later – then get up later in the morning.

Over 90% of adolescent children don’t get the recommended amount of sleep on school nights. Getting enough good-quality sleep is important during this period, because sleep is vital for thinking, learning and concentration skills. Lack of sleep in these years has also been linked to mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.

About sleep cycles

We all cycle between different types of sleep during the night and also during long naps.

From about six months of age, a sleep cycle contains:

rapid eye movement (REM) sleep
non-REM sleep.

In REM sleep, your eyeballs flicker from side to side underneath your eyelids. REM sleep is also called dream sleep.

Non-REM sleep consists of deep sleep and light sleep. It’s difficult to wake a child in deep sleep. Children in light sleep wake up easily.

The amount of REM and non-REM sleep in a cycle changes throughout the night.

How sleep cycles affect children’s sleep

Children have a lot of deep non-REM sleep in the first few hours after they fall asleep. That’s why children sleep so soundly in the first few hours after they’ve gone to bed and aren’t disturbed by anything.

Children have more REM sleep and light non-REM sleep in the second half of the night. Children wake more easily from these kinds of sleep, so they might wake up more during this time than at the beginning of the night.

In the early childhood years, sleep cycles get longer as children get older. In children aged three years, sleep cycles are about 60 minutes. By about five years, sleep cycles have matured to the adult length of about 90 minutes.

Children might wake briefly at the end of each sleep cycle and not be aware of it or remember it in the morning. This is normal, and all children do it. But some children call out when they wake at the end of each sleep cycle and need help settling again.

Healthy Sleep Habits: How Many Hours Does Your Child Need?

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From infants and toddlers to school-aged kids and teens, parents want to know how many hours of sleep are recommended. While it's true that sleep needs vary from one person to another, there are some very reasonable, science-based guidelines to help you determine whether your child is getting the sleep he or she needs to grow, learn, and play.

Childhood Sleep Guidelines

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) provides some helpful guidelines regarding just how much sleep children need at different stages in their development. Keep in mind that these numbers reflect total sleep hours in a 24-hour period. So if your son or daughter still naps, you'll need to take that into account when you add up his or her typical sleep hours.

Do those numbers surprise you?

So, are you sending your child off to bed early enough? If those numbers are surprising to you, you're not alone. Working and single parents, especially, are often forced to get by on 5, 6, or even fewer hours of sleep each night. This is likely impacting your own social and mental functioning, as well as increasing your risk for other health problems. It might be tempting to think that your children can also get by with less sleep than they need, or that they should be able to cope fairly well with a few skipped hours here and there. However, all children thrive on a regular bedtime routine. Regular sleep deprivation often leads to some pretty difficult behaviors and health problems—irritability, difficulty concentrating, hypertension, obesity, headaches, and depression. Children who get enough sleep have a healthier immune system, and better school performance, behavior, memory, and mental health.

Healthy Sleep Habits - Tips from the AAP

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) supports the AASM guidelines and encourages parents to make sure their children develop good sleep habits right from the start.

Make sufficient sleep a family priority. Understand the importance of getting enough sleep and how sleep affects the overall health of you and your children. Remember that you are a role model to your child; set a good example. Staying up all night with your teen to edit his or her paper or pulling an all-nighter for work yourself isn't really sending the right message. Making sleep a priority for yourself shows your children that it's part of living a healthy lifestyle—like eating right and exercising regularly.
Keep to a regular daily routine. The same waking time, meal times, nap time, and play times will help your child feel secure and comfortable, and help with a smooth bedtime. For young children, it helps to start early with a bedtime routine such as brush, book, bed. Make sure the sleep routines you use can be used anywhere, so you can help your child get to sleep wherever you may be.
Be active during the day. Make sure your kids have interesting and varied activities during the day, including physical activity and fresh air. See Energy Out: Daily Physical Activity Recommendations for more information.
Monitor screen time. The AAP recommends keeping all screens—TVs, computers, laptops, tablets, and phones out of children's bedrooms, especially at night. To prevent sleep disruption, turn off all screens at least 60 minutes/1 hour before bedtime. Create a Family Media Use Plan and set boundaries about use before bedtime.
Create a sleep-supportive and safe bedroom and home environment. Dim the lights prior to bedtime and control the temperature in the home. Don't fill up your child's bed with toys. Keep your child's bed a place to sleep, rather than a place to play. One or two things—a favorite doll or bear, a security blanket—are okay and can help ease separation anxiety. See Suitable Sleeping Sites for more information specifically for babies under 12 months of age.
Realize that teens require more sleep, not less. sleep-wake cycles begin to shift up to two hours later at the start of puberty. At the same time, most high schools require students to get to school earlier and earlier. The AAP has been advocating for middle and high schools delay the start of class to 8:30 a.m. or later. It is important that parents and local school boards work together to implement high school start times that allow teens to get the healthy sleep they need. See the AAP policy statement, School Start Times for Adolescents, for more information.
Don't put your baby to bed with a bottle of juice, milk, or formula. Water is okay. Anything other than water in the bottle can cause baby bottle tooth decay. Feed or nurse your baby, and then put him or her down to sleep.
Don't start giving solids before about 6 months of age. Starting solid food sooner will not help your baby sleep through the night. In fact, if you give your baby solids before their system can digest them, he or she may sleep worse because of a tummy ache.
Avoid overscheduling. In addition to homework, many children today have scheduled evening activities (i.e., sports games, lessons, appointments, etc.) that pose challenges to getting a good night's sleep. Take time to wind down and give your children the downtime that they need.
Learn to recognize sleep problems. The most common sleep problems in children include difficulty falling asleep, nighttime awakenings, snoring, stalling and resisting going to bed, sleep apnea, and loud or heavy breathing while sleeping.
Talk to your child's teacher or child care provider about your child's alertness during the day. Sleep problems may manifest in the daytime, too. A child with not enough, or poor quality sleep may have difficulty paying attention or "zoning out" in school. Let your child's teacher know that you want to be made aware of any reports of your child falling asleep in school, as well as any learning or behavior problems.
Talk to your child's pediatrician about sleep. Discuss your child's sleep habits and problems with your pediatrician, as most sleep problems are easily treated. He or she may ask you to keep a sleep log or have additional suggestions to improving your child's sleep habits.

Additional Information from HealthyChildren.org:

Brush, Book, Bed: How to Structure Your Child's Nighttime Routine
Smart Solutions for Safe and Sound Sleep (HealthyChildren.org webinar)
Sleep Tips for Children's Mental Health

Last Updated: 11/16/2020

Source: American Academy of Pediatrics (Copyright © 2016)

The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.

Baby sleep mode

March 15, 2018

All parents dream of their baby sleeping well. And not only because they themselves need to snatch a piece of time for rest, but also because healthy sleep is vital for the normal functioning of the child's body.

A newborn and a child in a year or two sleep differently. The total duration of sleep in the first months of life is 16-20 hours a day, gradually decreasing to 12 hours at the age of five and up to 10 hours at the older age. However, with age, not only the duration of sleep changes, but also its rhythm. In young children, REM sleep with dreams predominates over slow-wave, deep sleep.

By about eight months, the proportion of REM sleep decreases and is about 20-25% of the total sleep duration, which corresponds to the sleep rhythm of an adult.

A child is born with an unformed circadian rhythm, and quite often even during pregnancy the baby slept or was awake contrary to his mother. A newborn usually sleeps no more than an hour and a half in a row - that's how long the sleep-wake cycle takes him. At the age of two to eight weeks, this cycle is extended to 4 hours.

Sleeping through the night without waking up, most children will learn before the age of one. At the age of two, children finally form a well-established daily rhythm, but it becomes more difficult to put the child to sleep.

Here are some average norms for the duration of daytime and nighttime sleep for children of different ages: hours;

1.5 - 2 years: daytime sleep lasting 2.5-3 hours, nighttime - 10-11 hours;

2 - 3 years: daytime sleep lasting 2-2.5 hours, nighttime - 10-11 hours;

up to 7 years: daytime sleep lasting 2 hours, nighttime - 10 hours;

after 7 years: daytime sleep is optional, nighttime - at least 8-9 hours.

It is important to note here that all children are, of course, individual and do not necessarily fit into these average parameters. Do not wake the child unless absolutely necessary, fearing that he will oversleep an extra hour. However, it should not be forgotten that compliance with the sleep regimen has a beneficial effect on the physical and psychological development of the child.

In order for the child to sleep well, certain conditions must be observed. Firstly, the bed and the room in which the child sleeps should be clean and cool, the air should not be too dry. Secondly, the child should not be prevented from falling asleep by extraneous sounds, it is advisable to turn off or dim the light. And, thirdly, before going to bed, the child should not be overfed, but not hungry, otherwise the discomfort in the stomach will prevent him from falling asleep.

Before going to bed, it is better not to play active games with the child - nervous excitement will not soon allow him to fall asleep peacefully. A warm bath soothes a child before bedtime, especially if you add a few drops of lavender essential oil to it. Lullabies should not be neglected - this daily ritual gives the baby a feeling of comfort and stability, calms him down.

Several factors can interfere with a child's normal, healthy sleep. If the baby is hungry, thirsty or feels wet, he wakes up. If the baby is hot or, on the contrary, too cold, he can also wake up.

Intestinal colic can interfere with children's sleep, especially in the first months.

Colic is associated with the immaturity of the baby's digestive system: gases accumulate in the intestines and press on its walls, causing pain. Usually colic disappears by 2 months, but can last up to 4-5 months. Special medications, such as Espumizana, a vent tube, dill water, will help soothe the pain. Before using any means, you need to consult a pediatrician.

Erupting teeth cause pain to the child, which, of course, causes disturbances in the usual sleep pattern. To make the baby sleep more peacefully, you can give him special rings filled with gel before going to bed. Such rings are cooled in the refrigerator, after which they are given to the child.

Night terrors may appear in a child around 2 years of age and greatly interfere with his restful sleep. However, rare nightmares are not necessarily a sign of pathology; on the contrary, children who have never had nightmares are an exception to the rule. If nightmares become frequent, the same nightmare repeats (this can be judged by the description given by the child himself), then it is better to contact a psychologist.

Sometimes the child wakes up at night, but not completely, and in less than a minute he falls asleep again. Such "awakenings" should not frighten parents. Therefore, it is not necessary, having heard the slightest sound from the child’s crib, to immediately run to him, grab him in his arms - perhaps it is precisely from the actions of the parents that the child will wake up completely and become capricious.

In order to instill a proper sleep pattern in your child, it is important to remember the following:

you don't need to wake your baby on purpose, even if it's time to feed him;
before putting the child to bed, you need to make sure that he is full;
night feedings should take place in a quiet, calm environment, with subdued lights;
if there is such an opportunity, then at 10-12 months it is advisable to refuse night feedings;
it is necessary to put the child to bed always at the same time;
daytime feedings should not lull the child, but on the contrary, set them up for activity;
it is desirable to start a special ritual of falling asleep, for example, to sing lullabies before going to bed or to put his favorite toy next to the child.

Daily routine for a child under 1 year old

Daily routine is a system for distributing periods of sleep and wakefulness, meals, hygiene and health procedures, activities and independent human activities throughout the day.

Compliance with a rational daily routine corresponding to the age characteristics of the child contributes to his healthy growth and development. Getting used to performing various types of activities at the same time, the child is prepared for the upcoming type of activity at every moment of time, which ensures their easier and faster implementation. Compliance with the correct daily routine provides a good mood for the child and maintains a keen interest in the study of the world around him, contributing to his normal motor and psychoverbal development.

The child's daily routine includes the following obligatory elements: diet, time spent outdoors during the day, frequency and duration of sleep, mandatory classes to develop skills in accordance with age, free time.

In the first months after birth, a healthy newborn baby sleeps for most of the day, since all external stimuli are very strong for the nervous system of a child, accustomed to a cozy intrauterine environment, and cause its rapid exhaustion. As the child grows older, the duration of sleep gradually decreases and the time of wakefulness increases.

Age	Daytime sleep mode	Night sleep	Wake mode
From birth to 2 months	6 x 2.5 hours	6 hours	During feeding
2-4 months	5 times 2-2.5 hours	6.5 hours	4 x 1.5 hours
4-6 months	4-5 times for 2 hours	7 hours	4 times 2 hours
6-9 months	3-4 times for 1.5-2 hours	8 hours	4 x 2.5 hours
9-12 months	2 x 1. 5-2 hours	9-10 hours	4 times 3-4 hours

Closely related to the sleep-wake mode is the feeding mode of the baby. The sleep of a child in the first months of life is very sensitive and is easily disturbed under the influence of various extraneous stimuli, including hunger.

Age	Mode	Example
From birth to 2 months	7-8 times, every 3 hours	6,9,12,15,18,21,24 (no night feeding)
From 2 to 6 months	6-7 times, every 3.5 hours	6, 9.30, 13, 16.30, 20, 23.30 (without night feeding) 6, 9.30, 13, 16.30, 20, 23.30, 03 (with night feeding)
From 7-12 months	5 times, every 4 hours	6,10,14,18,22