Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Child Sleep Patterns around the World

A study (ID# 0185) being presented as an oral presentation this morning at SLEEP 2008 compares the sleep patterns of young children from 12 different countries. Results are based on questionnaires completed by the parents of 21,273 infants and toddlers from zero to 36 months of age.

The study indicates that young children in predominately Caucasian countries have earlier bedtimes and obtain more overall sleep than young children in predominately Asian countries. No differences were found in night wakings or napping behaviors.

Children in New Zealand went to bed the earliest with an average bedtime of 7:16 p.m. Children in Hong Kong went to bed the latest with an average bedtime of 10:10 p.m. U.S. children had an average bedtime of 8:52 p.m.

Japanese children had the lowest total sleep time (i.e., nightly sleep plus daytime naps) of 11.6 hours of sleep per day. Children in New Zealand had the highest total sleep time of 13.3 hours of sleep. U.S. children averaged 12.9 hours of total sleep time per day.

Seventy-six percent of Chinese parents perceived that their child has a small or severe sleep problem. Only 11 percent of parents in Taiwan responded similarly.

According to the
American Academy of Sleep Medicine, newborns up to three months of age need about 16 to 20 hours of total sleep time per day, while infants between three and 12 months old need 14 to 15 hours of total sleep time. Toddlers between the ages of one and four years need about 12 to 14 hours of total sleep time.

The SLEEP 2008 abstract book is available online at http://www.journalsleep.org/PDF/AbstractBook2008.pdf.

3 comments:

  1. Most of child years 3 and below need to sleep 11 to 13 hours in order recharge their memory in day time learning.

    Is your child a night owl? Take a look on this article at:
    http://www.childsleepsolution.com

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  2. Thanks for the tips. These symptoms to watch out for in children are really helpful. My husband was diagnosed with sleep apnea a year or two ago and I have heard that it often runs in families. I am a little bit concerned that our children might have it as well. Now I know more about what to look for Child Sleep Solution

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  3. Come on! most of the child hate the oral presentations. I think you're wrong about it and must try with other situations, I mean the blog isn't bad enough but we need more recommendations above, and you're forgetting the main point here.

    ReplyDelete