HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS

Sleep - or lack of it - is probably the most-discussed aspect of child care. New
parents discover its vital importance those first few weeks and months. The quality
and quantity of an infant's sleep affects the well-being of everyone in the household.
And sleep struggles rarely end with a growing child's move from crib to bed. It simply changes form. Instead of cries, it's pleas or refusals. Instead of a feeding
at 3 a.m. it's a nightmare or request for water.
So how do you get your child to bed through the cries, screams, avoidance tactics
and pleas? How should you respond when you're awakened in the middle of the night?
And how much sleep is enough for your kids?


Bedtime Routines

No matter what your child's age, establish a bedtime routine that encourages good
sleep habits. These tips can help kids ease into a good night's sleep:

Include a winding-down period in the routine.
Stick to a bedtime, alerting your child both half an hour and 10 minutes beforehand.
Encourage older kids and teens to set and maintain a bedtime that allows for the
full hours of sleep needed at their age.


How Much Is Enough?

It all depends on a child's age. Charts that list the hours of sleep likely to be
required by an infant or a 2-year-old may cause concern when individual differences
aren't considered. These numbers are simply averages reported for large groups of
kids of particular ages.
There's no magical number of hours required by all kids in a certain age group.
Two-year-old Sarah might sleep from 8 p.m. whereas two-year-old Johnny is just as
alert the next day after sleeping from 9 p.m.
Still, sleep is very important to kids' well-being. The link between a lack of sleep
and a child's behavior isn't always obvious. When adults are tired, they can be
grumpy or have low energy, but kids can become hyper, disagreeable and have extremes
in behavior.
Most kids' sleep requirements fall within a predictable range of hours based on
their age, but each child is a unique individual with distinct sleep needs.

For more information on this or other health and safety topics, please visit
www.childrensal.org.