Dismantling some myths of children's sleep

BarcelonaSleeping well is crucial, as sleep allows the body and mind to recover and function correctly. In the case of children, sleep becomes even more important because it is key to their knowledge and cognitive development. According to the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital's School of Health, babies and children need deep and restorative sleep to process what they have learned during the day, consolidate memory, and develop their motor and emotional skills. In adolescence, the hormonal changes typical of this stage can make it difficult for them to maintain adequate sleep schedules, which can have consequences on their mood and academic performance.

From the moment a baby is born, sleep is always a source of concern for families. The Sant Joan de Déu School of Health has compiled some of the most popular myths about infant sleep to help families discern what is true and what is not. We reproduce them below:

Myth 1: it is not normal for them not to sleep through the night

Waking up is normal but we often don't remember it and we think, mistakenly, that we have slept through the night, but both children and adults wake up during the night. It is a survival mechanism that we mammals have, according to neurophysiologist Ainhoa Álvarez Ruiz de Larringa, in an article in the Sant Joan de Déu School of Health.

Myth 2: if they get tired during the day they will sleep better

Having a lot of activity during the day does help with sleep, but not tiredness as such. In fact, being very tired makes it more difficult to fall asleep. This professional warns that doing a lot of physical exercise at the end of the day activates us and can make it more difficult to fall asleep. As for snoring, this is a sign of obstruction and not a sign that you have deep sleep.

Myth 3: if you give them a bottle full of cereal, they will sleep better

Drinking milk has always been associated with bedtime, as perhaps due to its high tryptophan content, it can induce sleep, indicate from the Sant Joan de Déu School of Health. But they also add that there is no study that assures that adding cereals to milk produces more restful sleep. Furthermore, eating a lot before going to bed does not help to have a good rest and in children, offering an extra bottle with cereals will not improve rest either, but it can cause overweight problems, they warn.

Myth 4: if you don't nap, you'll sleep better at night

This professional explains that children's brains are programmed to nap. If they don't nap, the child becomes hyperactive to endure the rest of the day, and this can cause the child to sleep worse at night or have trouble falling asleep because tiredness is not synonymous with sleeping more. But if the nap is taken shortly before bedtime at night, then it can indeed interfere. Experts recommend napping, at least until age 5, but not in the late afternoon.

Myth 5: sleeping little on weekends is not a problem

Teenagers get up early on weekdays to go to class and most are sleep-deprived because their bodies ask them to sleep more, so on weekends they try to catch up on lost sleep and get up later. The problem, warn those at the School of Health, is that on Sundays they have trouble sleeping and already start the week with a sleep deficit.

Healthy sleep habits

As they get older, it is also important to maintain good sleep hygiene. 17% of children go to school sleepy and 4% fall asleep in class, according to data from the FAROS Report. In the case of adolescents, 52% confess that they attend class having slept less than eight hours, and 84% have difficulty waking up, which hinders their academic performance.

Irritability, bad mood, depression, tiredness, headache, less ability to defend oneself against illnesses, or lack of concentration are just some of the long list of consequences that minors can suffer from not resting the necessary hours. But sleep hours vary depending on the age of the minor. A baby should sleep between 14 and 18 hours depending on their months of life, including naps, up to 12 years old there should be between 9 and 12 hours of sleep daily, and from 13 to 18 years old, 8 to 10 hours.

Good eating habits, daily physical activity, regularity of schedules for waking up and going to bed, or establishing relaxing routines before sleep help to have a restorative rest.