Sleep: insufficient and too irregular rest time in children

The INSV wanted to dedicate this day of sleep to the dissemination of the good recommendations of specialists on the subject of children’s rest: screen time, the duration of falling asleep, the regularity of sleep…

Parents pay attention to their children’s sleep

According to the results of this survey conducted by the INSV, “8 out of 10 parents say they are well informed about sleep for their child or themselves, more than 9 out of 10 consider it important for their child and nearly 7 out of 10 for themselves”. For Dr. Marc Rey, President of the National Institute of Sleep Vigilance, this shows that “the information campaigns that we have been conducting for more than 20 years are bearing fruit”.

This 22nd Sleep Day is also an opportunity to remember that if sleep is a personal matter, specific to each family, it also concerns society as a whole: school, health professionals, associations…

Family sleep disorders

The survey also looked at sleep disorders. According to the conclusions of this work,parents more frequently have a sleep disorder 56% (66% in the case of single-parent families) when their child has one. Conversely, when their parents suffer from it, the children have a little more often a sleep disorder (1/3 against 24%), mainly recurring nightmares (7%) and snoring (6%)”.

For Dr. Marc Rey, “Don’t hesitate to talk to your doctor about it.”. For snoring in children, if the following three criteria are noticed by the parents, namely intense snoring (audible with the door closed) more than 3 nights a week for more than 3 months: you must consult for “look for a possible sleep apnea syndrome” advises Professor Patricia Franco, head of the pediatric sleep unit at the Hospices Civils de Lyon.

Still far too many screens among children

The results of the survey also show a high proportion of children in front of screens at 87% and even 66% among toddlers, from 6 months to 3 years old. A time spent in particular at the end of the day, after school, which accentuates the problems of falling asleep.

Data that is not “reassuring because the link between exposure to screens after 5 p.m. in the bedroom and the deterioration of the quality of sleep with the risk of the appearance of a hyperactivity syndrome in children has indeed been demonstrated. says Patricia Franco.

Insufficient and not regular enough sleep time in children

Finally, the investigation shows that “many parents are aware that their children may not be getting enough sleep”. And for good reason, explains Patricia Franco, “children go to bed after 9 p.m., 38% on weekdays and 67% on weekends, when they are at most 10 years old. We already observe a phase shift at the weekend in these children. They get up later, go to bed later at the weekend when, unlike adolescents, this does not correspond to any physiological need for them”. She adds that “52% of children and 45% of children under 3 have irregular hours and sleep durations according to the age of the children are not respected, which is contrary to all recommendations”. A lack of sleep which impacts the child on his learning but also on the control of his emotions, with more frequent outbursts of anger.

A few tips to follow to soothe your child before going to bed

Here are some tips to obviously adapt according to the age of the child:

• The closer the bedtime approaches, the younger the child, the more it is necessary to distance him from screens of sources of stress, quarrels, images and traumatic words;
• Privilege rituals (reading a story) and bedtime routines, in an atmosphere of calm and affection and the better they will be;
• Put things into perspective, take a step back and maintain regular sleep patterns;
• The more the adult is anxious, the more the child will have difficulty sleeping well;
• The more the child feels safe and reassured, the better he sleeps and the less the adult is stressed.

Finally, remember that parents have the opportunity to learn today, on the occasion of this 22nd Sleep Day which offers a rich program with the participation of sleep specialists, face-to-face or remotely. More information on https://institut-sommeil-vigilance.org/