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Information about children’s sleep

This article contains information about children’s sleep, falling asleep, napping and evening routines. The article has been written in collaboration with experts at Helsinki Sleep Clinic, Vitalmed Oy.

Published 24.2.2021

About babies’ sleep

Humans sleep even before they are born. Newborns sleep most of the time – about 15 to 20 hours a day. A baby only wakes up to eat and then falls back asleep. The sleep of newborns is still undifferentiated and differs from that of adults in structure. Half of the sleep of newborns is REM sleep characterised by dreaming. It’s also called active sleep, and is in contrast to non-REM (deep or dreamless) sleep. Sleep cycles in babies only last about an hour, whereas later in life they last for 1.5–2 hours. During the baby’s first year, sleep develops as the central nervous system develops. The amount of REM sleep decreases to just over 20%, corresponding with the sleep structure of adults, and sleep cycles lengthen too. Newborns awaken much more often than people do later in life. The biggest changes in sleep structure occur during the first year, and another major, abrupt change occurs during teenage years.

Melatonin production begins at about three months of age. This will gradually begin to normalise the circadian rhythm, and the longest sleep period begins to coincide with night-time. However, the rate at which this happens and circadian rhythm vary from one person to another.

There are differences in how much children need their parents’ support in sleeping and eating during their first year. Falling asleep doesn’t normally happen by itself, and the reassuring presence of an adult is required. However, it’s important to gently guide the sleep rhythm in the right direction:

  • Expose the child to stimuli and everyday noises when they are awake.
  • Create more regular eating patterns and periods of being awake and asleep.
  • Lower the level of lighting in the evening, quieten things down and create sleep rituals.
  • Feed the baby just before bedtime, and gradually start separating feeding time from sleeping time.
  • If the child wakes up at night, let them try falling asleep on their own, perhaps with the help of a sleep toy or similar.
  • Remember that everyone has their own rhythm and development rate.

As children awaken often, their sleep is restless and even the smallest of stimuli may wake them up and make it more difficult to fall asleep again. Sleep problems are not always due to the fact that the infant’s sleep pattern is undeveloped, and there may also be many disturbing factors. A newly learnt skill, for example, may wake the child up, as the brain is processing it during REM sleep. Hunger, allergies and colic may disturb sleep, as can teething during the first year. Gradually by trial and error you’ll start recognising different types of crying: crying when hungry, crying when tired, crying because of colic. You can then immediately solve the problem in the appropriate way.

Difficulty falling asleep

The difficulty small children experience in falling asleep on their own is perhaps the most common and the hardest sleep problem parents face. If the baby always needs a parent to fall asleep, even if the conditions are right for falling asleep on their own, we’re talking about a sleep association problem. The baby has learnt to associate falling asleep with breastfeeding, cradling or being pushed in a stroller and doesn’t fall asleep without the activity in question. This may sometimes continue until later preschool age.

All children need help in their early life to fall asleep and even to remain asleep. As children’s sleep easily gets disturbed, you may have to put them to sleep several times during the night. In the absence of a sleep association problem or other problem, you need to start gradually training the child to fall asleep on their own.

The purpose of home sleep school is to make children forget learnt sleeping habits and discover how to fall asleep on their own. Put the child in their own bed, stroke them for a while and leave before they fall asleep. If the child starts crying, go back to them and talk to them soothingly. If this doesn’t help, don’t let the child cry excessively but pick them up and soothe them. Usually you’ll see results within a few weeks but it may also take longer, so don’t worry. To start with, you can offer the baby a sleep toy or similar, as it may comfort them and help them to fall asleep. It’s something that the child will begin to associate with falling asleep safely and is always there if they happen to wake up (whereas the mother is not).

The child should gradually get accustomed to being alone before falling asleep. You can then gradually extend the time the child is without you. Normal changes such as teething, allergies or infections may be hard for children and they may need more support with sleeping in such situations. Once the infection is gone, you can go back to the sleep school routines, encouraging the child to fall asleep on their own.

The first year is demanding in terms of the parents’ own sleep. You should sleep whenever you can. Relax during the child’s nap time even if you can’t fall asleep. Relaxing can’t be guaranteed at this new responsible stage of life, but it’s something that can be learnt. Accept all the help you can get if it allows you to rest for a while. As the baby learns to calm down, the parents will sleep better too.

Evening routines

Even after your child’s sleep has matured and sleep routines have been acquired, attention must still be given to sleep. As we all know, even mature sleep gets disturbed easily. A regular rhythm supports good sleep. Evening rituals are important and include bedtime wash and an evening snack. You can also sing and chat to a small child and use a soothing, reassuring voice and touch. Bedtime stories are a soothing sleep ritual and may later continue as such when the child learns to read. The modern world offers plenty of stimuli for small children, which is a challenge for parents. There are already some studies on the impact of smart devices on sleep among young people. Their use has been shown to disturb sleep more than watching TV does (that too can delay falling asleep). Adults need to think whether to buy a smart device for the child, what rules apply to its use and how to keep to them. Delay buying a smart device until school age if you can and even then monitor its use despite the child’s protestations. No device can ever replace your being there for the child.

Importance of napping

Napping improves motor skills particularly among young children. Children usually stop taking a nap at the age of 3 or 4, but even after that a perfectly healthy child can take one nap per day. The age range when napping discontinues is 2 to 5 years. The need for sleep varies from childhood onwards. The point of time when children stop taking a nap depends primarily on the need for sleep. If the child takes a nap when it’s no longer needed, it will make it more difficult to fall asleep in the evening. When the child stops napping, there’ll usually be a transitional stage during which the child seems tired in the afternoons but finds it hard to take a nap.

According to the most recent studies, napping may also be beneficial for older children in terms of learning new skills. Napping has not been shown to adversely affect the quality of night-time sleep. If the child is energetic and not sleepy during daytime, there is no need to make them take a nap. However, a quiet moment or two after lunch may be beneficial. All children benefit from taking a break to wind down during the day. The child’s sleep rhythm should be planned together with the parents. It’s good to remember that not all night-time problems falling asleep are caused by napping. The cause of abnormal daytime tiredness should be established as there are many potential causes: it could be a sleep disorder, lack of sleep or some other factor (stress, bullying, depression, anxiety, fear, ADHD).

 

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