Find out how long your child should sleep for the best possible development – and how you can support your baby’s sleep.
Sufficient sleep is essential for your child’s healthy development. Especially in the first years of life, babies need a lot of peace and security.
But how much sleep is healthy and how can you support your child’s sleep rhythm? This article will tell you everything you need to know.
Index
Babies and toddlers especially need a lot of sleep
Leading experts have determined the optimal length of sleep in a large-scale study and discovered something surprising:
- Not only too little, but too much sleep can have a negative impact on health.
- The sleep researchers examined more than 2,000 different studies to make recommendations for the optimal length of sleep.
The following graph shows the results for different age groups:
The duration of healthy sleep can vary
Every child is unique – this also applies to their personal need for sleep. For babies up to 3 months old, the researchers recommend between 14 and 17 hours of sleep. However, some infants get by with much less rest or need up to 19 hours of rest a day.
- So you can see that even the experts can only give a rough guide. To ensure that your baby gets enough sleep, it is a good idea to carefully monitor your child’s habits.
- With increasing age, the need for sleep gradually decreases. It is best to observe your child over a longer period of time and, if in doubt, talk to a doctor.
This also applies if your baby’s sleep duration is outside the recommended times. This can (but does not have to be) an indication of health risks. In such a case, it doesn’t hurt to seek advice from a professional.
In summary: The length of sleep for babies can vary considerably. However, you should look carefully if your child is sleeping outside of the recommended areas.
Babies rarely sleep through the night
In contrast to adults, infants sleep without a regular night rhythm at the beginning of their life and often wake up several times a night (every young couple can tell a song about it).
- In such situations it is helpful to calm the baby down and, if necessary, to feed it. In the first month of life, children still have no feeling for the alternation of day and night.
- After about 6 months, the sleep rhythm becomes more regular and the time to fall asleep shifts more towards the night hours.
After the first year of life, most babies sleep through the night and only rarely wake up during the night. To support this development, you can start with a few important measures beforehand:
How to improve your child’s sleep
As mentioned above, it makes sense to observe your child’s sleep. This is the only way to become aware of possible problems and to react to them.
- A sleep log or diary facilitates the overview. There you can enter your baby’s asleep and wake-up times.
- Start a sleep ritual from 6 months old. Your child will learn to fall asleep faster through this routine.
- Make a note of any inconsistencies , problems, or anything else you notice for your next doctor’s appointment.
Over time, children develop their own sleeping habits and, for example, do without an afternoon nap.
In addition, from toddler age, they don’t have to shy away from setting limits. If your child does not want to sleep in the evening, you should establish fixed times to fall asleep (preferably with a sleep ritual).
Be consistent here and make it clear as early as possible that it is the night to sleep.
Note: Make sure you have enough rest and sleep for yourself. Not only developing children, but also we adults need sufficient healthy sleep. This article will tell you more about getting the best amount of sleep (and how you can improve the quality of your sleep).
Summary: The optimal length of sleep for your child
With the recommendations of leading sleep researchers, you have a good orientation to optimally promote the development of your child.
However, no study or guide on the Internet can replace the personal care of a parent. So use the findings of science as a guide and watch your child very carefully.
Most of the time, as a father or mother, one notices instinctively when problems arise with sleeping or other health. In this case, do not hesitate to ask a doctor for advice.
I created Sleep Knowledge to share my interests and experiences on healthy sleeping with others. On this page I am therefore dealing with interesting questions about the optimal night’s sleep & everything else that goes with it.