Anyone who has raised kids knows that managing their sleep can be one of the most challenging aspects of parenting. Adequate sleep is a bedrock of a child’s physical and mental health child gets enough sleep is as important as serving balanced meals or encouraging exercise – possibly more important, she said. “All of it’s related, and all of it stems from sleep Not getting enough sleep has been associated with weight gain and obesity, increased blood pressure and insulin resistance among youth, he said, and sleep also is linked to how the immune system works sleep recommendations, needs change with age. The AAP says infants need 12 to 16 hours a day; toddlers 11 to 14 hours; preschoolers 10 to 13 hours; grade-schoolers nine to 12 hours; and teens eight to 10 hours. Those recommendations include naps for younger children. Make sleep a priority It’s easy to push sleep to the backburner, Kaar said. Sports, homework, even family dinners when both parents work late can get in the way. But for all the reasons listed above, families need to find ways to make sure sleep is not sacrificed. Sleeping in on the weekends to catch up on missed hours during the week is not the answer, Kaar said. If your sleep hours vary from night to night, “your body doesn’t like that either,” she said. “It wants a regular sleep schedule Learn a healthy routine When such problems affect the child’s or caregiver’s daytime functioning or quality of life, they often can be treated easily with behavioral therapy, he said. What does a healthy sleep routine look like? Again, each child will be different, Kaar said, but “for little kids, it might be ‘I finished my homework, then I like to shower, and then I like to read a book.’” Older kids should be taught to use their bed only for sleeping, to avoid caffeine and to set a bedtime for their screens. Turning to apps She uses them herself with her children: She has a 6-year-old who sometimes listens to a story app, and an 8-year-old who’s helped by a white noise generator. But families don’t need anything fancy, she said. “With sleep, at the end of the day, you need a quiet environment create a suitable space for sleep. Tape a black trash bag to the window to darken a room. Find a free white noise app on your phone or turn on a fan in the room to decrease noise from outside of the room
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Friday, June 27, 2025