Sleepy little ones

Parents tell me that their child seems tired. Some children are sleeping on the bus in the morning. Others still have a hard time waking up from rest time in the the classroom. Some kids are so tired in the afternoon that they are not able to participate in the afternoon activities with their peers. Sometimes I think that if I let certain kids sleep after lunch until they woke up on their own, then they would sleep until the end of the school day.



I have talked to a few parents about the seemingly excessive sleepiness of their children. In the few conversations that I have had, I decided to do some research of my own. Some people learn by talking and some people need to read information in order to process it. So I found a few articles on the web that provide specific recommendations on the necessary amount of sleep that children of different ages need. The articles can be found here and here. It is recommended that preschool age children sleep between 11 and 13 hours each day. 11 and 13 hours each day! Wow, I know that there are days when I would love to sleep that much, but thankfully I am an adult and can usually function on much less than that.

Sure it varies by child and some kids totally can function on less sleep. Other may need even more. Parents need to be observant of the child's behavior. Parents need to put children to bed when they are tired, and not when a certain show is over, or a more convenient time arises. Consistently and routines also play a big part in children's sleep. Is bed time at the same time every night? Are there bed time rituals that are in place?

As a classroom teacher I always wrangle with when to wake a child up. Most of the students in my group this year sleep as soon as rest time starts. Should I wake them up or let them sleep when rest time is over? If I let them sleep, will that make them less tired in the evening? If I wake them up, will they be so tired that they wont be able to participate in the afternoon? And so goes the sleep dilemma.