Getting enough sleep is important, but how do you know if child gets enough sleep? I know as a mom of 3, the summer months have wrecked havoc on our bedtime routine. With school starting this week for my girls, I need to get back to a bedtime ritual that works for their ages.
How Much Sleep is Getting Enough Sleep?
The arrival of another school year means that it’s time for students to reset their bedtimes as the summer break comes to an end. To help identify the appropriate bedtime for children, teens and adults, the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project has created an online Bedtime Calculator that is available at www.sleepeducation.org. Project partners – including the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Sleep Research Society (SRS) – developed the calculator as part of the “Make Time 2 Sleep” campaign to help families adopt routines that fit each individual’s unique lifestyle and sleep needs.
“Back-to-school time provides families with a perfect opportunity to re-evaluate their sleeping habits and establish healthy routines to ensure sufficient sleep,” said AASM President Dr. Ilene Rosen. “No matter the age, children and adults report improved alertness, energy, mood and physical well-being when enjoying healthy, consistent sleep.”
Photo AASM
Personalized Bedtime Calculator
The online Bedtime Calculator allows schoolchildren, teens and parents of young children to enter an age and wake time to identify an appropriate bedtime based on the sleep duration recommendations of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine:
- Infants 4 months to 12 months old: 12 to 16 hours (including naps)
- Children 1 to 2 years old: 11 to 14 hours (including naps)
- Children 3 to 5 years old: 10 to 13 hours (including naps)
- Children 6 to 12 years old: nine to 12 hours per night.
- Teenagers 13 to 18 years old: eight to 10 hours per night
Because everyone needs sufficient sleep, adults also can use the Bedtime Calculator to help them get the recommended seven or more hours of nightly sleep.
If your child is having trouble falling asleep, I find that taking tech devices away earlier helps. As an educator, I can tell you that younger children love routines. It takes work to follow a bedtime ritual, but it will payoff.
Did you try the bedtime calculator? What is your bedtime routine?
My kids are all terrible sleepers. My oldest only started sleeping through the night midway through kindergarten. Informative article!
My kids don’t get the 12 hours the chart says, but they usually get 10 hours of sleep.
My Grandkids take their baths and then read before they go to bed. It really helps them to get sleepy sooner and sleep longer. Taking away TV and music seem to be the trick for them. But they are still hard to get up in the mornings. Thank you for your tips.
We’ve always put our kids to be about 8 pm every night. They get around 8-10 hours of sleep
This is a great guide! I would never have thought they would need so much as teenagers. i barely slept back then.
It is hard to get the kids in bed on time. homework sports chores but I know it is very important to get the right amount of sleep
I was just wondering if my 22 month old was in line with recommendations. We just got her to sleep all the way through the night (10 hours), but she wakes up at 530am EVRERY DAY. She used to wake up 4 times a night. She also takes a two hour nap each day.
we are still working on getting enough sleep. we’ve made a lot of progress since school started. we strive to be in bed and asleep well before the time the calculator gave us. we start our routine very early to make time for all the detours lol
I am going to share this with my daughter. My 3 year old granddaughter only gets about 8 hours of sleep.No naps!
My kids get 8 hours except on Sunday night’s because they are used to staying up on Saturday and sleeping in.
My one year old sleeps right at 14 hrs
I’m so lucky that my kids love their sleep!
I sometimes wonder if I get enough sleep, and worry a little. I now see why it is so much more important for children and teenagers to get more sleep. Thanks for enlightening me.
Most think teens dont need that much sleep and they truly do. There has been talk in our school district about starting them later and keeping longer but it is tough on the teachers. I always had problems getting my teen up and she go 10 hours easily.
My son and daughter-in-law have a pretty good bedtime routine down with my oldest granddaughter. She is in bed by 8 pm every school night and gets no less than 10 hours of sleep. She is usually pretty well rested and chipper when she wakes up.
I don’t know how many kids get enough sleep especially with TVs and smartphones, and also a ton of homework. Good to know how much and how important it is. And if kids do sleep that much, think of how much you can get done while they are asleep!
Thanks for the chart. I know when my kids don’t get enough sleep, the whole day is affected.
My son is right on!! Now whether or not Mom and Dad are getting enough sleep is up in the air 😉
Teens are really th ones pushing things. Most stay up way too late and then have to get up early especially during school hours. There has been discussions for years in delaying high school by an hour in the morning because studies show they arent getting enough shut eye.