Why Do Kids Need Sleep?
Sleep is one of the most important aspects of a person’s health, and most of us don’t get enough of it. But did you know that kids need sleep more than anyone?
That’s right. That means if your child has difficulty going to sleep, staying asleep, or sleeping for full durations of rest, it’s affecting other areas of their development.
Let’s talk about why sleep is so important, and what we can do to ensure our child gets enough rest.
Sleep impacts your kid’s behavior.
It’s common knowledge that children get cranky, fussy, and irritable when tired. But the impact is a little more deep-rooted than that.
When children’s bodies are not well-rested, they have less control over their impulses. This means that not only are they not fully in charge of their thoughts; they also aren’t fully in charge of their actions.
Behaviors stem from emotion. So if they are unable to respond appropriately to the way they feel, they have no hope of controlling the behaviors they feel impulsively drawn to do.
They get reactive. Instead of responding to a trigger with patience and self-regulation, they react impulsively. And they usually do so with behavior that we deem unacceptable.
We can teach all the breathing, conflict resolution, and self-management exercises we want, but if our children aren’t well rested, they won’t do any good. Without adequate sleep, kids are unable to gain enough control over their actions to behave.
Sleep impacts your kid’s relationships.
With a lack of control over their emotions comes a lack of control over their social skills as well. When kids don’t get enough sleep, you can expect their interactions with others to suffer.
They have problems connecting with their friends due to their inability to communicate and self-regulate well, and they struggle to maintain strong relationships with their parents because their lack of communication and self-regulation often creates problems at home.
Not to mention, when a child is sleep deprived, the parents are often sleep deprived as well. Parents find themselves expending energy at all hours to tame bedtime protests, comfort after nightmares, and respond to night wakings.
If we want our children to form great relationships throughout their childhood, we have to set them up for success. And that begins with a good night’s sleep.
Sleep impacts your kid’s safety.
The rates of accidents and injuries in sleep-deprived individuals is astonishing. We see this most often in car accidents, slip-ups at work, and exercise injuries, but the research applies to children as well.
Children are not only more likely to get injured when sleep-deprived due to a lack of coordination and alertness, but they are also less likely to heal quickly. Rest repairs all things; from sickness, to muscle strain, to broken bones.
If we want our children to have the best chance of safety and healing, we have to get them to sleep.
Sleep impacts your kid’s learning.
Students who are sleep-deprived consistently perform worse in the classroom in terms of testing, homework, and overall grades.
This could be from a number of issues: the inability to focus, the lack of energy, difficulting remembering new concepts, and more… But it all stems from a lack of sleep.
When children don’t get enough sleep, they don’t have enough energy or focus to make it through the day. Not to mention, early brain development, learning, and memory are all correlated with sleep.
We call it the “24 Hour Rule.” Studies have shown that students who struggled with new concepts would show up to school the next day fully able to complete problems that had them at a standstill. Dancers in studios across the country have reported “just having” their choreography the day after learning it, even though they couldn’t complete the full phrase the previous day. Even artists have reported that “taking a break for the night” leaves them replenished enough to return to their paintings with increased creativity the next day. They “just see things they didn’t see the day before.”
Sleep gives the brain time to relax and recharge, and in doing so, it can finally fully absorb all the new things it’s been exposed to. All learning takes time, but if you’re noticing struggle in a concept you didn’t expect to see your kids struggling, see if simply going to bed will right the issue.
Sleep impacts the family.
You know the concept of the Christmas lights? If one bulb goes out, the whole circuit doesn’t work?
That’s the easiest way to explain Family Systems Theory. When your child doesn’t get enough sleep at night, it creates a ripple effect that usually goes a little something like this.
Your child doesn’t sleep.
You don’t either.
You get anxious, irritated, and frustrated.
It affects your relationships with your child, spouse, coworkers, and friends.
You lose patience, yell, and operate with a short fuse.
Your loved ones feel guilty.
Then you feel guilty.
You get hostile or depressed.
This makes your child anxious and irritated.
They don’t sleep.
And now we’re right back at the beginning. Rinse and repeat; spiral spiral spiral…
If your child’s sleep is off balance, it bleeds into other aspects of the family as well.
Your ability to make it through with your marriage still thriving, your sanity still intact, and the relationships you have with your kids solidified is dependent upon the amount of sleep they (and you!) receive.
So next time your child doesn’t want to go to bed and you’re thinking, “What’s the harm?” remember where you started.
We’ve all been sleep-deprived before. There are seasons when it is inevitable, and your child is going to have some bad nights by nature.
But chronic sleep deprivation is serious and can affect the entire scope of your child’s development.
