How long should a child sleep?
Sleepless child for a single night is enough to destroy his mother’s mind’s rhythm for a full length day. Tension kills her sleeps too making her feel tired. If so, she may not able to do her daily activities perfectly resulting even in outbursts with her family members. Loss of sleep once in a while due to fever or cold is common in young children. If the condition stays long it may lead to many serious problems as well.
It’s to be noted that lack of proper sleep in kids may lead to loss of concentration. He may become slow in daily activities and such conditions may lead to depression also. The whole sleeping activities are controlled by hypothalamus of brain and it controls other activities of human body like food habits, functioning of kidney, behaviour of a person, heart, skin, hormones and many more. So if a kid doesn’t get enough sleep it may affect other body functions too.
Very often a small kid may not able to express his feelings and discomforts. But it doesn’t imply he is free of such problems. He is deprived of rest; there lies the real problem. Like elders, it’s not possible for kids to compensate the lost sleep of a night with next day’s daytime sleep. So, if the same condition exists so for a few days, it may affect his food habits, behaviour as well as imbalance of hormones leading to slowing of daily activities and even mental depression.
Common reasons for sleeplessness in babies
A small baby can’t speak about his problems and so, his mother should be able to find his hidden worries. Common reasons are as follows.
- If he is hungry or amount of food given is less
- If gas problems trouble him a lot
- Stomach pain
- Discomforts caused by infant foods
- Worm infection or swelling around his anus
In elder kids, health related problems like urinary infections, too much time before television and computer, tensions etc may pave way to sleeplessness. Such problems will surely affect all members of the family as well. If you are able to arrange his sleeping time properly it’s possible to make it a habit. If so, his biological clock will get activate and his daily activities will become regular. He will get appetite and eat food in a proper way.
How long should a kid sleep?
For an infant, till he reaches 2 months, he should sleep 10-19 hours a day. Till one year old, he should get 12 to 13 hours sleep. If he is below 3 years, he near 11 to 13 hour sleep. Till 12 year old, he needs 9-10 hour sleep.
How to arrange his daily activities and sleep
If parents are able to arrange his regular activities according to a timetable, a kid will sleep exactly at the same time every day. If so all his functions will be regular and get synchronized as per biological clock. Thus his mind feels that he can’t alter his sleeping time and automatically prepares the sleeping time everyday exactly at the same time. It gives a perfect sleep to the child.
So, the first thing to do is to set the same sleeping time every day. If he is below five years old, he sleeps almost 11-12 hours at night and wakes next day morning the same time. A few kids may wake up earlier at dawn break. If he is below four years, he may sleep regularly after his lunch for a few hours. Mothers can use this time to bath or do their leisure activities. She can also take a rest at this time.
But in a few cases, this nap at afternoon may lead to prolonged playtime at late hours too. But you can slowly make a timetable for his sleep. If he sleeps too long at day time, you can wake him up so that it won’t affect his regular sleep at night. But it’s always good for small kids to have a nap in the afternoon. Otherwise he will feel too tired in the afternoon.
Let him sleep this way
If a discipline is brought in his daily activities and given him the right time to sleep, next step is to assure if he sleeps at the right time. Give him enough practise so that he sleeps regularly at the same time every night. But he should never feel that parents prompt him to go to sleep. Instead he should feel that it’s the right time to go to bed. You can wash his body an hour before his sleep. This habit ensures him good sleep too. Mother can become a ‘talking clock’ in this case.
“We shall go for a bath within next 5 minutes. We shall return back in 5 minutes”, “When I complete reading this story, it’s time to switch off the lights” – mothers can use these dialogues repeatedly so that a kid will go sleep step by step. When you tell him, “It’s time for bath”, kid’s mind automatically prepares for the first step of sleep and his mind waits for the next phase too.
- Once you have decided his daily time to sleep, you should keep discipline.
- Sleeping time should never lag more than one hour. Slight differences are OK.
- A peaceful atmosphere is needed before one hour of his sleeping time. So switch off cartoons and video games one hour before his sleep. If his mind in a fresh and energetic mood, it’s difficult to make him sleep.
- Bath with warm water, one hour before sleep. It gives good sleep to him.
- His stomach should be full so that you can ensure his good sleep
- Avoid tea and coffee before sleep
- Dim lights are good for kid’s bedroom
- Give them enough body exercise everyday
- Room temperature should be comfort to give him a comfort sleep
- No smoking in bedroom
It’s a better idea that other family members too to keep a discipline in daily activities.
Take care of these points
- Before sleep, you can tell him bedtime stories. Let him choose books and stories. If he is interested you can make it a habit.
- In between you can ask him questions about the pictures of the story books. Tell him moral lessons hidden inside those fairy tales. This time can become the best communication time between mother and child too. It increases the communication skill of the kids as well as his self confidence.
- Give him hope and expectations of a good tomorrow. If you tell him before sleep, “Sleep well, tomorrow evening we shall go to park”, his mind will be filled with happiness that ensures him good sleep too.
- You can give him one or two soft toys before sleep. Keep the plays and toys minimal. Otherwise he will stay awake in the bed with you for a long time.
- You should inform him that you are to switch off the lights within a few minutes.
Take care of all these points and if you are able to do so, it won’t be a big task for parents to make him sleep. It may take a little time and the implementations may be done slowly. Yet it always yields positive results. Also it’s the duty of parents to strictly follow the steps and not to drag his sleep too much by adding extra tasks. A few parents make kids sleep in sofa or mat and later take him to bedroom. It’s not at all a right procedure.
Small indicators of sleep
At the sleeping time, if the family atmosphere is like a battle field, parents may not be able to notice ‘the sleeping child’. He may lose his sleep too. Before the sleeping time, a silent atmosphere is essentially needed at home. If it’s the case of an infant, he may act restless or even cry before sleep. Rubbing eyes, opening mouth wide and thump sucking are common indicators to know if your kid wants to sleep.
If a kid gets insufficient sleep
These are the common things to know if your kid has slept well or not.
- Restlessness
- Mother feels difficult to handle the kid
- If he wakes from sleep when you transfer from your lap to bed
- He wakes up from sleep suddenly
- Taking extra time for day sleep
- Lack of concentration and loss of memory power
- Slight deviation in behaviour
- Anger and outbursts for less known reasons
- Depression
Sleep is one of the most vital factors of human life. It’s scientifically proved that a sleepless person dies earlier than a hunger man. That shows how sleep deeply influences human activities. Sleep plays a significant role in shaping a person’s behaviour as well as defense mechanism of the body. Also, many of the significant development functions of a kid takes place when his brain is in sleeping mode. So, never neglect kid’s sleeping disorders as it plays a significant role in developing his intelligence and mental stability too.
Image source: Wikipedia
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