Until a child is 21 years old, the brain mainly develops during sleep. Little sleep will result in poorer school performance, unstable emotions and a greater chance of being overweight. The shorter nights often have to do with a lack of a fixed structure for going to bed, later meal times when both parents work (longer), etc.
How long to sleep?
Despite the fact that every child is different and does not always adhere to the required hours of sleep, the average number of hours would still be as follows:
- 6 months old – about 15 hours of sleep
- 1 year old – about 14 hours of sleep
- 2 years old – about 13 hours of sleep
- 3-5 years old – approximately 12 hours of sleep
- 6-8 years old – approximately 11 hours of sleep
- 9 years old – about 10 hours of sleep
As you can see in the overview above, the hours of sleep between the ages of 6 months and 9 years differ by only a few hours. From this you can conclude that children simply need a lot of sleep. The brain develops during sleep.
Sleep granules near your eyes
When you wake up in the morning, there are always some grains on the sides of your eyes. These granules are caused by a gland near your eyes that secretes a thick tear fluid. At night, these tears flush away everything that could not be removed in the normal way (via your nose) during the day, such as dust and skin cells. If children ask you what those granules are, they will probably not understand the explanation above. Some parents then tell their children that it is sand that the sandman Klaas Often (named after a fairy tale) sprinkles sand in the eyes of children so that they go to sleep.
Scared in the dark?
Every child gets afraid of the dark sometimes, for some children this is a short-lived phase, other children can suffer from this for months. However, there are a number of dos and don’ts that can help your child overcome their fear.
Do not
- Sometimes this fear can lead to broken nights for the entire family, but don’t show your child that this is making you frustrated. This can also cause stress for your child.
- It may be that your child has a very strange reason to be afraid of the dark, do not laugh away or downplay this fear, for your child this fear is real! It is also not a good idea to make the fear very real by indicating that you can scare away the ,monsters,, then your child will think that the monsters really exist.
- For once you can take your child into bed with you for comfort if this helps, but do not make a habit of this, because this will not make the fear of the dark go away and your child will have to learn to sleep alone in the dark.
Do well
- First of all, it is good to calmly tell your child that it is safe in his room and that everyone is afraid of something sometimes. You take his fear seriously but do not give in to it.
- Ask your child what you could do to take away his anxiety, you can also give suggestions such as a night light by his bed or a cuddly toy in his bed. If necessary, stay by his/her bed for a while until they fall asleep.