How much sleep do children need

Sleep is essential to a child’s wellbeing and every child needs a different amount of sleep to function, particularly at school age.  So how much sleep do children need?

You may find that when your child reaches school age, the first few weeks of school can be very exhausting for them and you may find that they want to go to bed earlier.  Let them. Don’t keep them up because you fear they will get up too early the following day.

At different stages of your child’s life they may require a certain amount of sleep.  The key is getting your child into a pattern very early on.  Throughout our daughter’s life, we kept the same patterns, wind down time, bath, bedtime story and lights dimmed or completely off as she got older.  We found that she prefers a similar pattern so she naturally knows and feels it’s time for bed.  Reducing the amount of sugar intake in a child’s diet can also really help them to get a good night’s sleep all year round, blackout blinds in a child’s bedroom can also help with the process.

Children up to age 36 months still need at least one nap a day up to an hour to a couple of hours.  Toddlers tend to need the most amount of sleep strangely enough as you would expect newborns need more.  The older your child gets, the more they try to prolong the going to bed process, but if you keep to that pattern you have applied from young, they will nod off.

Don’t forget your teenagers.  Some can need more sleep than babies!

We have compiled a guide to how many hours of sleep per night you should aim for to help them to grow into happy and well-balanced children.

Follow our guide:

We hope you found this how much sleep do children need guide helpful.

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