Between the ages of 2 and 6, your child's sleep needs will change but remain important. 3-year-olds need 12 to 13 hours of sleep per day. 6-year-olds need 10 to 11 hours per day. To know if your child is getting enough sleep at the right time, a good indicator is how easily they wake up in the morning: your child should wake up without difficulty when it's time to go to school. Otherwise, you should review their schedule.
What is the purpose of sleep? Why is it so important for my child?
Getting enough sleep has significant daily health benefits:
- Sleep is essential for a child's brain development.
- It regulates the production of several hormones: growth hormone, as well as cortisol and insulin, which are appetite hormones. Children who don't get enough sleep tend to snack more and feel hungrier.
- It consolidates information memorized during wakefulness and promotes recent learning. A person who falls asleep after just learning a task improves their memorization by 30%.
- It is associated with a better immune response, with probable consequences for susceptibility to infections.
How can you help them sleep well and get quality sleep?
While children need restful nights and often naps, they don't always want to go to bed and don't easily fall asleep. Here are some tips to help them get the necessary hours of sleep:
- Regularity is a key factor for quality sleep. Consistent bedtimes and wake-up times from day to day during the week, with very little (or no!) deviation on weekends and during holidays.
- Get outside, be active. Outdoor activities and exposure to natural light promote sleep because they inform the biological clock about the day's progression. Conversely, avoid all screen exposure in the hours before bedtime. The use of television, tablets, and phones is associated with difficulty falling asleep, waking up at night, and poor sleep quality.
- Rituals are all the habits that are repeated every evening at bedtime, always in the same order. They reassure the child during this particular transition from wakefulness to sleep, which is also a moment of separation from their parents. This can be an anxious time. A story, a cuddle, a song, or a music box, as well as comforting objects like a favorite stuffed animal or blanket, are necessary steps to prepare the child for sleep. This moment should be calm and reassuring.
- Teach your child to fall asleep independently. This is fundamental for their nights (and yours) because a child who doesn't know how to fall asleep alone won't know how to fall back asleep alone if they wake up during the night.
If your child is experiencing sleep difficulties, don't hesitate to discuss it with their pediatrician.
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Paula Buswell
