Children need more sleep than adults. The younger the child, the more sleep they need. Below is a guideline for the amount of recommended, minimum, and maximum amount of sleep your child should be getting based on their age [Sleep Foundation]. It's important to note, however, that all children are different, and just because this list has a certain number doesn't mean your child couldn't fall outside of this list.
What’s important is to try and establish what amount of sleep allows your child to perform best. When children don’t get enough, they will suffer from sleep deprivation.
The signs of sleep deprivation in children include:
In fact, there is an increasing body of evidence from studies that children with chronic sleep problems can be misdiagnosed with ADHD (Shur-Fen Gau 2006).
An important part of establishing whether or not your child is suffering from sleep deprivation is establishing a baseline of what behavior is normal for your child.
Choose a couple of days when you are sure your child is getting plenty of sleep, such as within the recommended range, and then observe their behavior and performance. After you know what their baseline is, notice their behavior on days they don't sleep well. Look for erratic behavior and performance that is heavily variable day to day and throughout the day that is different from the baseline.
If you notice either of these in your child, it may be a sign that they are sleep deprived. If you notice erratic or chronic uncharacteristic behavior, look at how much sleep they are getting.
There are several lifestyle reasons your child may be sleep deprived:
A recent study on sleep and screens conclusively showed that children who watched more TV and had TV in their bedrooms “displayed significantly shorter sleep duration and worse sleep”, and were inclined to nap longer. Importantly, the study showed that the extra napping did not offset these negative impacts.
Bedtimes and bedtime routines are also extremely important for ensuring that your child gets to sleep at the time needed for them to get enough sleep. Also, their room should be conducive to sleep, especially if your child is a light sleeper.
Besides lifestyle, children can also suffer from sleep disorders that affect sleep, such as:
If you live in Alaska and your child seems to be suffering from sleep deprivation due to an unobservable reason, please take this free online sleep test to get in touch with us.
Shur-Fen Gau S. 2006. Prevalence of sleep problems and their association with inattention / hyperactivity among children aged 6-15 in Taiwan. Journal of Sleep Research 5(4): 403-414.