Sleep & Bedtimes

Children who have regular and good quality sleep have improved attention, behaviour, learning, memory, and better mental and physical health.

From 6-12 years old, children typically need 9-12 hours of sleep each night and although each child is different, a good guide would be to move their bedtime up 15 minutes each school year.

Download the Parent Power booklet for bedtime guidelines and routines.

The importance of sleep for our national school children. A webinar with Lucy Wolfe

A very useful webinar that Lucy developed to help answer questions for parents about sleep. Have a look in the video description for the different topics covered.

How much sleep do children need?

Recommendations developed by the National Health Service in the UK.

Healthy sleep tips for children

Guidance developed by the National Health Service in the UK.

Videos

Why do we sleep? A cartoon learning video for kids.

Wellbeing for children. Healthy habits, including sleep.

Sleep Hygiene. Train your brain to fall asleep and sleep better. This one is more for adults but there’s lots of great information.

Guided sleep meditation. There are lots of these on YouTube, maybe one will work well for you.

Lullaby music. There are lots of lullaby videos on YouTube for all ages. These suit some kids very well so maybe give them a try if your child struggles to get to sleep.

Books

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. Available in bookshops and online. The Amazon link is here.

365 Bedtime Stories and Rhymes. Available in bookshops and online. The Amazon link is here.

Got any recommendations? Let us know and we’ll add the links.

Top Tips from other parents

“Make their sleeping space special - nice cushions, small fairy lights, cuddly toys. Make a deal about no devices in the room. Get a small night light to keep the light low.”

“Google 'sleep' together and read about why it is important.”

“Have a bedtime routine - turn off TV and devices, lower the lights, get them to have a bath or a shower then straight to bed.”

“Help them make a lullaby playlist or a cd. Tell them about lullabies you liked.”

“At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of parents”

Website by Proactive.ie