How long should a child sleep?

An important part of the life of any person, regardless of age, is sleep. And for a child it is doubly important, because a growing body consumes a lot of energy. Therefore, he needs enough time to recover. Let's find out how much time children of different ages should spend on rest - from birth to two years.
How long should a child sleep?

First, let's figure out why sleep is so important for babies.

     Firstly, during the day a child, even an infant, consumes a huge amount of information: he gets acquainted with the world around him, learns new skills, and develops. All this activity requires enormous expenditure of energy. During sleep, the body not only physically rests and gains strength: all received information is processed and absorbed by the brain.
     During rest, babies actively produce growth hormone, without which full physical development is impossible. Therefore, sleep deficiency threatens to slow growth.
     Lack of sleep leads to exhaustion of the nervous system and decreased immunity. A child who does not get enough sleep becomes nervous, capricious, and has a decreased appetite. Chronic lack of sleep leads to various diseases.

In the first month of life, children sleep most of the day - up to 17-20 hours. They don’t yet distinguish between day and night, so they sleep when they want. The newborn has not yet developed biorhythms, so he rests several times a day. Sleep duration ranges from 40 minutes to two to three hours at a time.

Starting from the age of two months, the baby gradually begins to develop biological “day-night” rhythms. At the same time, the amount of time spent on rest begins to decrease. At night, infants sleep for about 10 hours, waking up several times to feed.

The duration of daytime rest is shorter and depends on how well the baby slept at night. The total amount of sleep at 2-4 months of age is 14-16 hours per day.

Night sleep

For healthy physical and mental development, not only the amount of sleep is important, but also what time the baby should go to bed. Doctors recommend sending the baby to bed no later than 21:00. The fact is that in the dark, the body produces a vital hormone - melatonin. The sooner you put your child to bed, the more melatonin will have time to be produced. Therefore, in the summer, when it gets dark late and dawns early, it is advisable to close the windows in the children's room with thick curtains.

If the baby goes to bed late, then the body produces another hormone, cortisol, instead of melatonin. This is a stress hormone, under the influence of which the baby becomes capricious, irritable, and depressed.

In order for children to grow up healthy, they need to be taught to go to bed at the same time. Following a daily routine helps you fall asleep faster and wake up easier in the morning.
Daytime nap

A growing body requires not only night rest, but also daytime rest. It helps restore strength spent in the first half of the day and calm the nervous system. A rested baby becomes active again and is able to consume new information.

Parents choose their own time for daytime rest. It is best to calculate it taking into account the time of morning awakening and evening bedtime, counting the same number of hours. Usually the day's rest occurs in the afternoon.

As they grow older, from about 2.5-3 years old, children no longer need regular daytime sleep. Their body is already able to stay awake all day, compensating for fatigue with night rest. However, many parents continue their habit of putting their babies to bed during the day. There is nothing wrong with this; it all depends on the individual needs of the baby and the wishes of the parents.
How long should a child sleep: table

Let's find out what the norm of sleep is for children in different months of life. For convenience, the data is summarized in a table.
Age Sleep duration (years)
Night sleep (g.) Daytime sleep (h.)
newborn - 2 months 17 - 20 7 - 10 8 - 9
2 - 4 months 14 - 16 9 - 10 4 - 5
4 - 6 months 14 - 15 10 - 11 4 - 5
6 months - 1 year 13 - 14 11 - 12 3 - 4
1 - 2 years 12 - 13 10 - 11 1 - 2

Do not forget that these are general norms, and each baby has his own need for rest, depending on the type of nervous system and other factors.
Useful tips

     To ensure your baby gets a full, healthy sleep, organize the sleeping area correctly. Choose a comfortable crib, maintain the optimal air temperature in the room (18 - 20 degrees).
     As you grow older, teach your daughter or son to fall asleep on their own. To prevent him from getting bored, put his favorite toy in his crib. A one-year-old baby is already able to sleep on his own.
     To put your baby down with minimal effort, do it immediately after feeding him. After eating, the body will relax and it will be easier for the baby to fall asleep.