From our Guidance Counsellor, Ms. Tosca Grainger-Dee
Why sleep is important for children aged 5-11 years?
When your child sleeps well, your child will be settled, happy and ready for school the next day. That’s because good-quality sleep helps your child concentrate, remember things, manage emotions and behave well.
This all helps your child learn well.
Getting enough sleep is also important for your child’s health. That’s because it strengthens your child’s immune system and reduces the risk of infection and illness
Sleep: what to expect at 5-11 years
At 5-11 years, children need 9-11 hours sleep a night. For example, if your child wakes for school at 7 am and needs approximately 10 hours sleep per night, your child should be in bed before 9 pm.
Some children fall deeply asleep very quickly when they go to bed. Others sleep lightly, fidgeting and muttering for up to 20 minutes, before getting into deep sleep.
Children have different kinds of sleep during the night. The first few hours of sleep are usually the deepest. Most dreams happen in the second half of the night.
About sleep cycles
We all cycle between different types of sleep during the night and during long naps.
From about 6 months of age, a sleep cycle contains:
- rapid eye movement (REM) sleep
- non-REM sleep.
In REM sleep, your eyeballs flicker from side to side underneath your eyelids. REM sleep is also called dream sleep.
Non-REM sleep consists of deep sleep and light sleep. It’s harder to wake children who are in deep sleep, whereas children in light sleep wake up easily.
The amount of REM and non-REM sleep in a cycle change throughout the night. There 5 different sleep cycles per night and each one is about 90 minutes. If you / your child wake up, then you will start the sleep cycle from the beginning.
It’s also common to wake briefly between sleep cycles.
How sleep cycles affect children’s sleep
Children have a lot of deep non-REM sleep in the first few hours after they fall asleep. That’s why children sleep so soundly in the first few hours after they’ve gone to bed and are rarely disturbed by anything.
Children have more REM sleep and light non-REM sleep in the second half of the night. Children wake more easily from these kinds of sleep, so they might wake up more during this time than at the beginning of the night.
In the early childhood years, sleep cycles get longer as children get older. In children aged 3 years, sleep cycles are about 60 minutes. By about 5 years, sleep cycles have matured to the adult length of about 90 minutes.
Children might wake briefly at the end of each sleep cycle and not be aware of it or remember it in the morning. This is normal, and all children do it. But some children call out when they wake at the end of each sleep cycle and need help settling again.
A children's sleep cycle, much like an adult's, involves periods of light and deep sleep, as well as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. However, children's sleep patterns differ from adults, especially in their sleep stages and the duration of each cycle.
Here's a breakdown of children's sleep cycles:
- Sleep Stages:
- NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep:
This is the part of sleep where your body rests and repairs. It's divided into stages:
- Stage 1 (Light Sleep): This is the transition from wakefulness to sleep, where your heart rate and breathing slow down.
- Stage 2 (Deeper Sleep): Muscles relax further, and body temperature drops.
- Stage 3 (Deep Sleep): The deepest stage of sleep, where it's harder to be woken up.
- REM Sleep:
This stage is characterized by rapid eye movement, faster heart rate, and breathing. Dreams typically occur during REM sleep.
- How Sleep Cycles Differ in Children:
- REM Stages: Children's REM sleep stages tend to be shorter and more frequent compared to adults.
- Sleep Stages: Children's "sleep architecture" (the proportion of time spent in each sleep stage) develops closer to adults by age 5.
- Cycle Length: Each sleep cycle is about 90 minutes long, and children's sleep patterns change throughout the night, with REM stages becoming longer as the night progresses, and deep sleep stages getting shorter.
- General Sleep Needs by Age:
- Infants (0-3 months): 14-17 hours of sleep per day, including naps.
- Infants (4-12 months): 12-16 hours of sleep per day, including naps.
- Toddlers (1-2 years): 11-14 hours of sleep per day, including naps.
- Preschoolers (3-5 years): 10-13 hours of sleep per day, including naps.
- School-age (6-13 years): 9-12 hours.
- Teens (14-17 years): 8-10 hours.
- Factors Influencing Sleep:
- Age: Sleep needs change as children grow.
- Individual Differences: Some children naturally need more or less sleep than others.
- Hormones: Hormones like melatonin regulate sleep.
- Environment: A quiet, dark, and comfortable bedroom is crucial for healthy sleep.
- Routine: Establishing a regular bedtime routine can help children wind down and fall asleep more easily.
- Daytime Activities: Physical activity and sunlight exposure can promote better sleep at night.
- Diet: Avoiding sugary drinks and snacks before bedtime can improve sleep quality.