Sleep and children's health

Sleep is essential for health and wellbeing. Learn about the importance of sleep for children and teens, and tips for helping them sleep better.

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Why sleep is important

Sleep is just as important as healthy eating, physical activity and learning. During sleep, the brain and body recover, learn and grow.

Good sleep supports:

  • moods and behaviour
  • mental health, self-esteem and resilience
  • concentration and memory – which helps with learning
  • immune system function – which can help prevent illness. 

Sleep and learning

Sleep helps children to:

  • take in information from the world around them
  • focus at school
  • process and store memories.  

The brain processes memories during sleep, making it vital for learning.

Sleep and behaviour

Lack of sleep can affect behaviour and mood. Tired children may appear to have more energy because their body is working hard to stay awake. This can make it harder to settle before bedtime.

Good sleep can improve moods and behaviour, which in turn supports even better sleep.

1:30

Why do we sleep?

Dr Chris Seton from the Children’s Hospital at Westmead shares tips for healthy sleep habits.

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Video transcript

Why do we sleep?

People say, you know, why do we sleep? Why do we dream? Sleep is life-sustaining. The three crucial things for good children's health and development are sleep, nutrition, and exercise.

Why do we sleep? If they're not sleeping well, they lose those moments to learn and to develop. So, the great thing about sleep is it is treatable. It's changeable. We can improve it.

One of the interesting things about young children is that as they become tireder, they become more active. They're energising themselves to overcome the effect of sleep deprivation.

So the number one positive effect of good sleep is good learning. Almost as important as learning are moods, behaviour, and resilience. There's a huge reduction in a lot of negative mental health outcomes in adulthood if kids sleep well.

Think of it as an investment. Try and have a regular bedtime. Try and have good nutrition. Limit awake activities in bed as much as possible. When they're tired, it's good to try and rev them down in the 30 minutes before sleep.

And the payback is, sleep becomes easier. Nutrition becomes easier. Kids become resilient. They cope better. So it has this widespread positive impact on children's development.

Recommended amounts of sleep

The Australian physical activity guidelines recommend the amount of good quality sleep children and young people need each day.

To learn more about sleep at different ages, visit raisingchildren.net.au.

For infants

Newborns and babies need sleep for healthy growth and development. Always follow safe sleeping recommendations every time you put your baby to sleep.

  • 0 to 3 months: 14 to 17 hours (including naps)
  • 4 to 11 months: 12 to 16 hours (including naps)
For toddlers and preschoolers

Aim for consistent sleep and wake-up times.

  • 1 to 2 years: 11 to 14 hours (including naps)  
  • 3 to 5 years: 10 to 13 hours (can include a nap) 
For children and young people aged 5 to 17 years

For healthy growth and development, children need enough un-interrupted sleep. Aim for:

  • 5 to 13 years: 9 to 11 hours a night
  • 14 to 17 years: 8 to 10 hours a night 
How to know if your child is getting enough sleep

These guidelines are a good start, but every child is unique. To help you know whether your child is getting enough sleep, look for signs of sleep deprivation. These signs include:  

  • irritability or mood changes
  • difficulty waking up
  • poor concentration
  • changes in behaviour. 

Tips to help your child get more sleep

Parents or carers play a key role in setting up healthy sleep routines. Creating good sleep habits early can help young children to grow, learn, and develop into healthy adults.

  • Aim to keep a regular bedtime – going to bed and waking up the same time each day helps them settle and fall asleep at bedtime.
  • Try to start getting your child ready for sleep 30 minutes before bedtime.  
  • Avoid screens at least 1 hour before sleep.  
  • Try to focus on relaxing activities like reading or having a bath.
  • Limit daytime or other activities in the bed. This helps the child’s brain link bedtime routines at night (like reading), with going to sleep.
  • Try to lower the light, temperature and noise in the place where they sleep.
  • Encourage your child to spend time outdoors during the day and aim to get enough physical activity.

For more advice, speak to your GP. You can also learn more about sleep at Children's Hospital at Westmead or Sleepshack, an online service for parents of teenagers.

Sleep for teenagers

Sleep supports mental and physical wellbeing for teens, both now and into adulthood.

1:20

Sleep for teenagers

How much sleep do teens need? How can parents make sure their teens are getting enough rest, especially during times of stress? Dr Chris Seton from the Children's Hospital at Westmead has the answers and they might surprise you.

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Video transcript

Sleep for teenagers

Seven out of ten teenagers are sleep-deprived. They'll say, "Yeah, when I'm tired, I'm moody, I'm cranky, I'm depressed, I'm anxious." Good sleep will get rid of a lot of that.

The instant benefits are that you feel better about yourself. You feel happier. You get on better with your parents. You learn better.

If they don't have good sleep and they try to learn something in the classroom, bits of their brain will be asleep. Teenagers need nine and a half hours of sleep, on average, and that figure stays static until the end of school.

One of the big factors is screens, and we know that blue light from screens delays body clocks. Our body clock is our internal mechanism that governs when we sleep and when we're awake.

One of the big things that parents can do is evening time management. In that forty-five minutes, the golden forty-five minutes leading up to lights out, have a bit of a routine: no screens, no homework, no exercise, nothing that will wake them up.

The biggest message I give to parents of teenagers is sleep is treatable, it's changeable, so get in early.

Sleep and performance

Better sleep is linked to better performance at school and other activities like sport.

When teenagers don’t sleep enough, parts of their brain may shut down when they’re trying to learn. This can mean they won't remember what they’ve learnt, especially if they study late into the night. This is because their brains don't get the chance to transfer learning into long term memory, which only happens during sleep.

Sleep for mental and physical health

Getting enough sleep can:

  • improve mood and self-esteem
  • reduce anxiety
  • lower the risk of depression and mental health issues later in life.

Poor sleep in adolescence is linked to long-term risks such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Signs of sleep deprivation in teenagers

During adolescence, body clocks shift so teens fall asleep later and wake later. This often reduces sleep time. About 70% of high school students don’t get enough sleep on weeknights.  

Signs your teenager may not be getting enough sleep include:

  • struggling to get up on school mornings.
  • sleeping in for long periods on weekends.
  • Teenagers of all ages need around 9 hours of sleep a night.
Helping your teenager get more sleep
  • Talk about your concerns and what you’ve noticed, such as changes in mood or school performance.
  • Focus on the benefits of sleep, such as achieving goals in school, sport or future careers.
  • Set regular times for dinner, homework and bedtime to support 8 to 10 hours of sleep.
  • Encourage teens to keep screens out of bed.
  • Support wind-down routines like showering, reading or listening to calm music 45 minutes before bed.
  • Limit homework, exercise and screen use close to bedtime.
  • Encourage less caffeine, especially in the evening.
  • Aim to finish eating at least 2 hours before bed. 

Learn more at Raising Children – sleep and teenagers.

Screens and sleep

Being in their bedroom doesn’t always mean your child is asleep. Many children study or use devices in bed, which can keep them awake.

Screens can:

  • train the brain to link bed with being alert instead of resting
  • delay sleep by exposing the brain to blue light, which disrupts sleep cycles.

Learn more tips for managing screen time. 

Source: Dr Chris Seton, Paediatric & Adolescent Sleep Physician from the Children's Hospital at Westmead.

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If you’re concerned about your child’s sleep or health, speak to a healthcare professional. 

 

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