47 Sleep
Martha Lally; Suzanne Valentine-French; and Dinesh Ramoo
During early childhood, there is wide variation in the number of hours of sleep recommended per day. For example, 2-year-olds may still need 15–16 hours per day, while 6-year-olds may only need 7–8 hours. The National Sleep Foundation’s 2015 recommendations based on age are listed in Figure 4.5.
Figure 4.5: National Sleep Foundation’s sleep duration recommendations
According to Tremblay et al. (2016), children aged five to thirteen need a recommended 9–11 hours of sleep per night, and teens aged fourteen to seventeen need 8–10 hours per night. However, recent evidence suggests that one in four children are not getting enough sleep. Carson et al. (2016) report that hyperactivity in 17.2 percent, stress in 21.5 percent, and poor mental health in 11.2 percent of children who get insufficient sleep. Therefore, a good night’s sleep is essential for physical wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, and overall quality of life.
