A Formula For Kids" Sleep
Can you recall any instance back when you're still young, when you were forced by your mom to go to sleep, otherwise, you won't get any taller? Sleep, being a physiologic need is universal...
it does not vary with race, gender or even age.
This is why sleep among children and babies is equally or if not even more important.
Just like adults, children need it for a lot of reasons so parents have a point there.
Growth is absolutely one of the primary reasons why youngsters have to get enough sleep.
This is a crucial period of rapid growth and development and it extends until adolescence.
To initiate growth, several hormones are needed to stimulate various biological events that happen within the blood, organs, muscles, and bones.
Human growth hormone is the key player that fuels up these events.
Its production is affected by nutrition, stress, exercise and among young children, sleep is one important factor.
Although it is released anytime during the day, among children, deep sleep is the most critical period where there is a more intense release of this hormone.
Bodies need to physically recharge after a day of play.
Recharging cycle does not only happen during sleep, it just more efficiently works at a faster rate when the brain does not exert much action.
Moreover, our brains also need time to rest and relax.
Otherwise the quality of work and play will be affected.
In older children who already go to school, lack of sleep can lead to decreased memory and attention span.
How much sleep do these youngsters need? The length of sleep actually varies with age.
For newborns, because their internal clocks are not totally developed yet.
Experts say that there is no sleep formula, but generally they need 16 to 20 hours a day, equally divided all throughout the day.
However, it should be noted that every 3-4 hours, they get hungry and may have to be fed.
Hence, their sleep usually last for 4-5 hours.
On the child's 3rd month, hours of sleep are ideally 5 hours during the day and 10 hours at night.
The gradual shift in sleep pattern could be noticed as the hours get more concentrated at night.
There maybe times when babies make little noises or cry a little sounding as if they're awake but they're not.
They may be awakened for awhile during light sleep but normally, they can easily fall back asleep on their own.
Upon reaching the 6th month, an infant's nap is now down to 3 hours during daytime and night sleep totals to about 11 hours.
There may be a slight change in responding to an infant who is awakened and cries during the night.
They can be easily awakened but they should be given 5 minutes to be able to go back to sleep.
If they still won't, try to talk to them softly or try giving them a back rub.
Come the toddler years, children at this stage need about 10 to 13 hours of sleep.
This is when separation anxiety becomes more apparent and this may prevent them from getting a good sleep.
They somehow have that motivation to stay up with parents so as not to miss anything.
Other things that can awaken them are teething, dreams or even nightmares.
As a child grows older, the requirement decreases.
Preschoolers in fact need about 10 to 12 hours per night, but this time, there is no rigid allotment for daytime and nighttime sleep.
If the number of hours was already met during the night, then a daytime sleep would not be necessary.
Nightmares are the ones which may be keeping them up or awakened during the night.
School aged children aged 6 to 9 need about 10 hours of sleep a night while older children ages 10 to 12 need a little over 9 hours of zzz's during the nightAside from the growth aspect, adequate sleep becomes more important for school kids as it is vital to their learning.
This is also a time where children engage in more physical activities.
it does not vary with race, gender or even age.
This is why sleep among children and babies is equally or if not even more important.
Just like adults, children need it for a lot of reasons so parents have a point there.
Growth is absolutely one of the primary reasons why youngsters have to get enough sleep.
This is a crucial period of rapid growth and development and it extends until adolescence.
To initiate growth, several hormones are needed to stimulate various biological events that happen within the blood, organs, muscles, and bones.
Human growth hormone is the key player that fuels up these events.
Its production is affected by nutrition, stress, exercise and among young children, sleep is one important factor.
Although it is released anytime during the day, among children, deep sleep is the most critical period where there is a more intense release of this hormone.
Bodies need to physically recharge after a day of play.
Recharging cycle does not only happen during sleep, it just more efficiently works at a faster rate when the brain does not exert much action.
Moreover, our brains also need time to rest and relax.
Otherwise the quality of work and play will be affected.
In older children who already go to school, lack of sleep can lead to decreased memory and attention span.
How much sleep do these youngsters need? The length of sleep actually varies with age.
For newborns, because their internal clocks are not totally developed yet.
Experts say that there is no sleep formula, but generally they need 16 to 20 hours a day, equally divided all throughout the day.
However, it should be noted that every 3-4 hours, they get hungry and may have to be fed.
Hence, their sleep usually last for 4-5 hours.
On the child's 3rd month, hours of sleep are ideally 5 hours during the day and 10 hours at night.
The gradual shift in sleep pattern could be noticed as the hours get more concentrated at night.
There maybe times when babies make little noises or cry a little sounding as if they're awake but they're not.
They may be awakened for awhile during light sleep but normally, they can easily fall back asleep on their own.
Upon reaching the 6th month, an infant's nap is now down to 3 hours during daytime and night sleep totals to about 11 hours.
There may be a slight change in responding to an infant who is awakened and cries during the night.
They can be easily awakened but they should be given 5 minutes to be able to go back to sleep.
If they still won't, try to talk to them softly or try giving them a back rub.
Come the toddler years, children at this stage need about 10 to 13 hours of sleep.
This is when separation anxiety becomes more apparent and this may prevent them from getting a good sleep.
They somehow have that motivation to stay up with parents so as not to miss anything.
Other things that can awaken them are teething, dreams or even nightmares.
As a child grows older, the requirement decreases.
Preschoolers in fact need about 10 to 12 hours per night, but this time, there is no rigid allotment for daytime and nighttime sleep.
If the number of hours was already met during the night, then a daytime sleep would not be necessary.
Nightmares are the ones which may be keeping them up or awakened during the night.
School aged children aged 6 to 9 need about 10 hours of sleep a night while older children ages 10 to 12 need a little over 9 hours of zzz's during the nightAside from the growth aspect, adequate sleep becomes more important for school kids as it is vital to their learning.
This is also a time where children engage in more physical activities.
