Receiving Adequate Hours of Sleep is Critical for Anyone Under 21

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Dang!  You mean my parents have been right all along?

Although I have always felt that it was vital that my 22 month old toddler receive at least the minimum number of hours of sleep everyday, I have never thought it would still be as important that older children – even teenagers – clock in a minimum number of hours of sleep a day.  After all the times my parents used to nag me for staying up late to read books or play computer games when I was growing up, it turns out they were right to nag after all.

My BFF referred me to an article which reports the findings from sleep studies about the impact of losing as little of one hour a day on the cognitive development of children and teenagers.

“Because children’s brains are a work-in-progress until the age of 21, and because much of that work is done while a child is asleep, this lost hour appears to have an exponential impact on children that it simply doesn’t have on adults…

…a slightly sleepy sixth-grader will perform in class like a mere fourth-grader. “A loss of one hour of sleep is equivalent to [the loss of] two years of cognitive maturation and development,” Sadeh explains.”

Looks like I’m going to have to work harder to enforce the bedtime rule with Gavin.

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Other posts that might interest you:

• How Many Hours of Sleep Does a 2-3 Year Old Toddler Need?
• When Does a Toddler Stop Napping Completely?
• Lessons from Sleepless Nights and Crying Fits
• A Drug-like Sleep
• How to Get Kids to Sleep More

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