How long should the child sleep? & bull; hello healthy

Sleep is one of the needs of children. Just like nutrition, sleep also affects the growth and development of children. The amount of sleep that is sufficient for the child provides the child with enough energy to build brain connections. However, sometimes children find it difficult to sleep, even though children need more sleep duration than adults. How much sleep does the child need?

The importance of getting enough sleep duration for children

Before discussing the amount of sleep your child needs, maybe you should also know what benefits your child gets when he meets the duration of sleep he needs.

1. Helping growth and development

One of the most important benefits that children get while sleeping is to help their growth and development. Yes, you might not expect this to happen during sleep, but it turns out that the peak growth hormone in children is released when they reach their deepest sleep. Although in fact the child's growth hormone is released throughout the day.

2. Helps maintain heart health

Experts suspect sleep can protect children from damage to blood vessels due to circulating stress hormones. Children who usually experience sleep disorders have excessive brain stimulation during sleep, this may trigger an excessive release of stress hormones.

3. Helps maintain weight

Sufficient sleep duration for children can also maintain a child's weight. Some evidence suggests that sleeping too little can cause children to be overweight. Lack of sleep may affect the hormone leptin, a hormone that signals fullness. A child who is sleep deprived may experience a disturbed satiety response, so that he will continue to eat and will gain weight.

4. Helps maintain immunity

Children who are sleep deprived may be more prone to getting sick. Yes, during sleep it turns out that the body also produces protein that can fight infection, disease and stress. These proteins are called cytokines. The less sleep duration of the child, this will affect the amount of cytokines in the body, so that the child is more susceptible to illness.

5. Helps improve learning abilities

Even though the baby is sleeping, it turns out that the baby's brain is still working. It's also shown in a study by Columbia University Medical Center that newborns actually learn at sleep. Not only as a baby, it turns out that sleep also develops learning abilities for children of all ages. That is why sleep is needed by children, if the child does not have enough sleep duration at night, the child can suffice it during the day. Sleeping during the day and at night, both of which provide benefits to children.

How much sleep does the child need?

Babies and children need adequate sleep to support their rapid mental and physical development. The duration of sleep needed by babies and children varies according to their age. As reported by the National Sleep Foundation, the following are the sleep duration needs of children according to their age:

Newborn (0-3 months of age)

Newborn babies need as much sleep duration 14-17 hours in a day. This sleep duration is not spent in one sleep, but in multiple and irregular sleep times. Usually a newborn will sleep for 1-3 hours in one sleep, the baby will wake up if he needs to eat or to change his diaper.

Infants 4-11 months of age

Babies of this age need a long sleep duration12-15 hours in a day. Babies at this age usually take two naps. By the age of 6 months, babies usually do not wake up in the middle of the night to ask for breastfeeding, they will spend the night sleeping soundly. Maybe this will be done at the age of 9 months in some other babies.

Children aged 1-2 years

Children aged 1-2 years need as much sleep duration 11-14 hours in a day. When a child turns 18 months of age, usually the child will only take one nap and this usually lasts for 1-3 hours. It is better if the child's nap is done during the day because if it is approaching the night this can disturb the child's nighttime sleep.

Children aged 3-5 years

When the child turns 3 years old, the child's sleep duration decreases. Children aged 3-5 years need sleep for 10-13 hours in a day. At this age some children usually have trouble sleeping and wake up at night. A child's developing imagination makes children at this age fear sleep and may experience nightmares.

Children aged 6-13 years

The duration of sleep that children need when they are 6-13 years old is equal to 9-11 hours. Maybe getting enough sleep is difficult because at this age children spend more time outside the home to carry out their activities, such as school, exercise, play, and so on. In addition, children at this age have also become interested in spending time in front of the television or computer. Things like this can disrupt sleep time.