Does my child sleep enough? 

How much is enough sleep? What do I do if my child doesn’t want to sleep? How do I know if the quality of their sleep is poor? Surveys show that 20 to 30% of all infants over 12 months do not sleep through the night. Other studies show that 25-50% of preschoolers display bedtime resistance and delayed sleep onset. There is increasing evidence that sleep disturbance in children and adolescents is associated with barriers to learning, cognition and memory. Poor sleep is definitely something that you want to address before it interferes with healthy development! 

Heads up! Tell-tale signs of poor sleep:

• Bedtime resistance
• Sleep terrors
• Sleep walking
• Rhythmic movements such as head banging, head rolling and body rocking
• Slow to get moving in the morning
• Daytime sleepiness
• Inattention
• Impaired memory and learning
• Hyperactivity
• Irritability
• Moodiness
• Temper tantrums
• Behavioural insomnia 

Behavioural Insomnia refers to when a child learns to fall asleep under certain conditions such as rocking, feeding, certain light level etc, and does not learn to self soothe. If they wake during the night they cannot get back to sleep without those same conditions. The usual way of dealing with this is slowly helping the child become accustomed to falling asleep without these conditions, or perhaps replacing mum’s presence with a familiar blanket or toy. You should be aware though that whilst poor sleep can be behavioural, at other times it can be associated with things like medications, stress, chronic medical conditions such as asthma, acute infections and anxiety. Two natural options to improve sleep duration and quality are massage (see article Infant Massage) and herbal remedies.

BEST REST GUIDE

Age	Recommended hours of sleep
0-3 months	12-18 hours including naps
4-12 months	11-14 hours including naps
1-6 years	10-12 hours
7-13 years	9-11 hours
14-18 years	8-10 hours

Sparrow J. Scolastic Par Child 2007;15(3):48-49 

Herbal remedies are gentle and non-addictive and well suited to treating sleep problems in children. A number of herbs have been used in clinical studies, with very positive results. Lemon Balm is good for situations where sleep disturbance is associated with poor cognition; Passionflower, Chamomile and Lavender are often used for nervous irritability, restlessness and insomnia; and adaptogenic herbs such as Withania for stressed, underweight children. 

There are a number of ways to use herbs

• herbal tea mixed with juice (eg, Chamomile)
• an infusion in bath water (eg, Passionflower)
• essential oils in an oil burner or mixed with a carrier oil and massaged (eg, Lavender)
• concentrated herbal extract prescribed by a qualified health professional 

Healthy sleep is a result of healthy habits including proper nutrition, exercise, a good sleeping environment, stress management, being aware of the effects of medications and treating chronic or acute illness. You will sleep easier knowing your child is getting enough sleep for family peace and healthy development!