Studies have shown that children, from elementary school to high school, get about an hour less sleep each night than they did 30 years ago, a deficiency that has the power to set their cognitive abilities back years. Because children’s brains are continuously developing until the age of 21, and because much of that development happens when they are asleep, this lost hour appears to have an exponential impact on children that it doesn’t have on adults (although adults are suffering from lack of sleep as well). It has even been theorized that many of the characteristics we normally associate with adolescence—moodiness, depression, and eating issues—are actually symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation can lead to attention and behavioral issues in children, and it can affect their memories and their emotional well-being. Not to mention that children who sleep less are generally fatter than children who sleep more.

How Much Sleep Do Children Need?
Sleep is probably one of the most discussed—and most argued about—aspects of child rearing. Expectant parents anticipate the worst in terms of their newborns’ sleep patterns and their own sleep deprivation. Parents of children from toddlers to teens have related horror stories of children’s bedtime battles that sometimes last for years. And parents everywhere worry that their kids are just not getting enough shuteye.

How much sleep is the right amount? That depends on the child’s age, and on the child herself. Two children of the same age who get the same number of sleep hours may react quite differently, one needing more sleep than the other. But there are certain predictable ranges you can use to guide you in judging how much sleep your child probably needs:

• From newborn to six months: Before three months of age, babies are on their own particular schedules. Their internal clocks are not yet developed. They sleep about 16 or 17 hours a day, and can sleep for anywhere from one to five hours at a time. By the time they are three months old, they sleep about five hours during the day and ten hours at night with one or two interruptions, which means they usually sleep at least six or eight hours in a row, allowing parents to finally get some sleep themselves.
• From six to twelve months: At six months, babies average about 11 hours of sleep at night, and may nap for about three hours during the day. By this time, if they wake up during the night they should be able to go back to sleep on their own.
• From one to three years: Children of this age range may start to develop separation anxiety, and put up a fight at bedtime. They need between 10 and 14 hours of sleep. Some toddlers may need daytime naps, but for others a short quiet time may be all that is needed.
• From four to six years: These children need between 10 and 12 hours of sleep per night. By the age of five, most children no longer need naps.
• From six to nine years: The average sleep requirement for this age range is about 10 hours of sleep per night. This is also a time when many kids need some quite private time with a parent, without brothers or sisters around. It may be that they have something they want to confide, or they just need a little one-on-one attention.
• From ten to twelve years: These children need between 9 and 11 hours of sleep a night, but this can vary greatly from child to child. If your preteen child is particularly irritable or hyperactive, it just might be due to sleep deprivation.
• Teenagers: Because their bodies are going through so many changes, teens usually need between nine and nine-and-a-half hours a night. They don’t usually get it, however. They stay up later at night and get up earlier. Although they often try to make up for lost sleep time on the weekends, a better idea is to try to get them to go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning even on Saturdays and Sundays.

How to Help Your Child Get the Sleep she Needs
Sometimes those seemingly inevitable bedtime battles are so exhausting you have no energy left to do anything but watch a tiny bit of TV and fall into bed yourself. But there are ways to make it easier for your child to get to sleep (and easier for you to get some down time as well). Here are a few suggestions:

• Don’t wait until your baby is asleep to put her to bed. Put her in her crib when she’s drowsy but still awake. This will help her learn to go back to sleep by herself if she wakes up in the night.
• If your infant wakes up crying, take a few minutes before you respond. If the crying continues, go into the room to check on him, but don’t turn on the light, don’t pick him up, or play with him. If he goes on crying, think about whether he might be hungry, need a diaper change, or if he might not be feeling well. If you do need to change a diaper or give him a bottle, do it as quickly and quietly as possible. Talk to the baby as little as possible; a few words of comfort are all that are necessary. The less stimulation he gets, the easier it will be for him to go back to sleep.
• If your toddler cries or calls out to you during the night, wait several minutes before you respond. If you do need to go into the room, don’t turn on the light and don’t stay in the room. Reassure your child that you’re there but that it’s time to go to sleep. If he calls out again, wait a longer time before responding and try speaking to him softly without entering the room again.
• Don’t give your baby or toddler a bottle to help her fall asleep. Children who fall asleep with a bottle of milk, juice, or any sweetened liquid in the mouth can suffer from a serious dental problem called “baby bottle tooth decay,” because the fluids tend to pool in the child’s mouth and can cause cavities in their front teeth.
• Probably the most valuable sleep aid you can provide is to establish a bedtime routine. Make bedtime the same time every night. As we said earlier in the stress section, children like predictability and they want to know what to expect. Set up a quiet (the operative word here being “quiet”—no games or roughhousing before bed) routine that you follow every night, such as reading a story or listening to soft music.