There are few things as important to the healthy growth and development of a child as sleep. That is why establishing (and maintaining) a healthy sleep schedule for your child should be of paramount importance. Today, Team Snorble takes a closer look at why sleep is so important for children, how it impacts their development, and what you can do to help your child have a healthy, happy night’s sleep.
Why Sleep is Important For Children
Even as an adult, sleep is critically important. While we rest, our brains store important memories, rebuild damaged cells, and re-balance body chemicals. It’s even able to solve worries and problems, hence the phrase, “I’ll sleep on it.”
It’s even more important for growing bodies, however, as much of their growth and development happens overnight. Without adequate, effective sleep, children can see reduced emotional development, behavioral issues, and even growth problems.
Happiness
Everyone has experienced a cranky toddler’s meltdown. Often, bad sleep can be a cause, though it's not the only one. They aren’t being unreasonable. Think of how you feel after a bad night’s sleep. Heavy, tired, cranky, and fuzzy thinking. The same goes for your little one. Yet this is a life stage where learning, processing, and exploration are critical to both their well-being and their mental development. Even a few hours of missed sleep can lead to moodiness and poor mental health.
Academic Development
When you are tired, it becomes difficult to pay attention and retain information. You feel clumsy and inattentive, and are unable to follow directions and remember things that are usually easy.
When a child gets a proper night’s sleep, science shows us improved attention spans, better learning and memory/retention of facts, and an improvement in academic achievement. Proper sleep boosts their cognitive development and helps foster the proper growth of the brain and neural network. Poor development can have knock-on effects throughout your child’s lifetime.
Social Development
Good sleep is also critical for social development. After all, who socializes well when they’re tired, cranky, and blurry? Childhood is when children develop not only a sense of self and others, but also most of their ground rules for interacting with other people. Reduced sleep and poor cognitive function from tiredness can lead to reduced empathy, anti-social behavior, and other socialization issues that will become ingrained over time, holding your child back from their true potential.
Harmful Effects of Too Little Sleep For Children
Poor quality, shortened, or disturbed sleep can thus have a profound effect on a child’s mental development and how they relate to themselves, the world, and other people. It can have equally harmful effects on their growing bodies, too.
Health Effects
Lack of sleep has knock-on effects within the body, too. Studies have shown that insufficient sleep can be behind high blood pressure, lead to adverse mental health effects (including depression), and also leave a child more vulnerable to obesity.
When the brain doesn’t get enough time to restore the body in its deepest sleep cycles, the wear-and-tear of an active lifestyle doesn’t get adequately addressed, which can lead to cumulative damage to growth and tissue health over time.
Introduction to Snorble®
Many children, even children who seem well-adjusted, do not get sufficient sleep. Here’s an idea of how long your child should sleep for:
- Newborn (0-3 months old): 14-17 hours
- Infant (4-11 months old): 12-15 hours
- Toddler (1-2 years old): 11-14 hours
- Preschool (3-5 years old): 10-13 hours
- School-age (6-13 years old): 9-11 hours
It’s also important that this is high-quality sleep, not restless tossing and turning. They need to pass through all sleep stages several times throughout the night. Luckily, Snorble has a solution your child and you will love.
How Snorble Improves Sleep For Kids
Snorble will become your child’s bedtime companion, coaching them to restful sleep and a regular bedtime. Together, Snorble and your child will explore the imaginary land of Lullaboo®, while Snorble encourages them to relax into a nighttime routine that promotes healthy sleep patterns, but without it seeming like work, an enforced punishment, or ‘adult stuff.’
In the meantime, Snorble will also give you reports on your child’s sleep cycle for you to better understand their individual needs. You will thus be able to customize the sleep pattern specifically for your child, all while gamifying the atmosphere around bedtime. Instead of it becoming a nightly fight or chore, your child will learn healthy sleep habits, mindfulness, and even how to self-soothe themselves back to sleep without startling their mind out of the ‘sleep zone.’
Set your child up for a happier, healthier life with strong bedtime habits that will last a lifetime. Let Snorble make bedtime fun and productive, while your little one learns good sleep habits.
