Find out what time children should go to sleep according to their age

HAVING a good night’s sleep is essential for a child’s mental, physical, social and emotional development.

But bedtime can be a challenge for parents – here we look at how much sleep a child needs and when they should go to bed.

What time should children go to bed?

The question of what time children should sleep has more than one answer and many parents take different approaches.

However, there is some consensus that a regular bedtime routine should be established when your babies are as young as four months old.

Children’s sleep consultants thesleepsisters.co.uk have published their thoughts in a practical guide:

• Newborn babies (up to three months): Babies at this age do not need to sleep and instead usually sleep in short two-hour bursts, day and night.
• 1–4 months: 8pm–11pm – As babies are still feeding regularly, this is the recommended time to put them down
• 4–8 months: 5:30pm–7:30pm – Along with regular daytime naps, going to bed earlier can help babies get all the sleep they need
• 8–10 months: 5:30pm–7pm – Sleep Sisters recommend that for babies this age, bedtime should be no later than 3.5 hours after the second nap. The time period is shorter as they are likely to have stopped their third nap.
• 10–15 months: 6pm–7:30pm – As you may be reducing your baby’s sleep, it’s important to bring bedtime forward – but no more than 4 hours after your baby’s last nap.
• 15 months to 3 years: 6pm to 7:30pm – Again, when naps stop completely, bedtime should be brought forward to
• 3–6 years: 6pm–8pm – As children no longer nap, they will need an extra hour of sleep each night
• Ages 7–12: 7:30pm–9pm – Now that your child is at school, it’s really important to stick to a schedule to ensure they’re getting as much sleep as they need.
• Teenagers: It’s a different story with teenagers, and experts say you should count backwards from the time they need to wake up to make sure they’re getting enough sleep.

How much sleep do children need?

Another question parents may ask is: how many hours of sleep do their children need?

Children need a different amount of sleep depending on their age group.

Sleep.org laid out this schedule for babies, even teenagers:

• Newborns (up to three months): 14 to 17 hours
• Babies (4 to 11 months): 12 to 15 hours
• Young children (one to two): 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Preschoolers (three to five): 10 to 13 hours
• School age (six to 13): 9 to 11 hours
• Pre-teens and teens (14 to 17): 8 to 10 hours

Bedtime sleep chart by age

two

According to this sleep chart shared by people like teacher Stacy Karlsen, bedtime should be based on your child’s age, as well as what time they wake up in the morning.

So, for example, the chart suggests that five-year-olds should go to bed from 6:45 pm to 8:15 pm, depending on their bedtime.

If your five-year-old is going to wake up at 6:30 am, he will need to go to bed at 7:15 pm.

But if they wake up a little later, at 7am, they’ll be ready for bed at 7:30pm.

An eight-year-old child who wakes up at 6:45 am will be ready to sleep at 8:15 pm.

But the child of the same age who woke up later, at 7:30 am, will be ready for bed at 9 pm.

Children aged 11 and 12 should sleep between 8:15 pm and 9:45 pm.

Co-founder of the Holistic Sleep Training Program, sleep expert Lyndsey Hookway says, “If a child takes more than 30 minutes to fall asleep, consider whether bedtime is unreasonably early.”

Why do children need a lot of sleep?

O Sleep Foundation say: “Sleep plays a crucial role in the development of young minds.”

Sleep also has a “direct effect on happiness” in children, and research shows that sleep affects cognitive performance, alertness and attention, mood, resilience, vocabulary learning, and memory.

Frequent naps are necessary for children to support “memory consolidation, executive attention, and motor skill development.”

Sleep quality and duration also impact physical growth, especially in early childhood.

Lucy Askew, sleep expert at Hillarys, shared five tips to help kids get into a solid sleep routine, including banning technology at least an hour before bed to help them relax and fall asleep soundly.