In the early 1960s, comedian Claude Laydu met with unexpected success with a show that had become cult: Good night kids. In this soap opera broadcast daily on the RTF, Big Bear and Ulysses, the Sandman, tell a story to two children before sending them to bed. The concept is simple, but all the rage: broadcast before the 8 p.m. news on the one and only channel of the time, the credits played on the pipe signal to the youngest that it is time to go to bed. Half a century later, the Sandman has disappeared from the screens, and seems to have much more trouble putting the Pimprenelles and Nicolas to sleep today.
No more going to bed before 8 p.m.: according to data from the National Institute of Sleep and Vigilance, more than a third of children aged 10 or under (38%) go to bed after 9 p.m. on weekdays. More than half stay up after this time on weekends. Most have irregular hours, and do not fall asleep or get up at a fixed time. Ridiculous? No way ! These bad habits increase their risk of incurring a sleep “debt”, that is, having less rest time than they need. Deficiency is already a problem in adults. For the little ones, it comes at a crucial moment in their physical and intellectual development. At the risk of permanently affecting their mental health and their learning abilities.
Lifestyle
Looking at the sleep needs of each age group is enough to realize this. When a newborn will sleep between 16 and 20 hours a day, a child aged 3 to 5 will have to sleep 12 hours, against “only” 10 hours from 12 to 14 years old. Even teenagers over the age of 15 need at least 9 hours of sleep to be fit, when adults can get by with 7 hours a night. Behind these large time slots, the individual particularities of each toddler must be taken into account. “The need for sleep is largely determined genetically, notes Géraldine Rauchs, researcher at the Blood and Brain Institute, at the University of Caen-Normandy and at Inserm. From birth, there are babies and heavy sleepers. However, these averages are a good reference tool: in primary school, respecting them implies that a child should get up at 7.30 am and go to bed… at 8.30 pm at the latest! Similarly, for an early morning wake-up call at the same time, a middle school student should have turned off his lights at 9:30 p.m., and a high school student at 10:30 p.m.
But families struggle to scrupulously follow these instructions. “We have been losing hours of sleep regularly since the 1970s, notes Sabine Plancoulaine, researcher at Inserm and specialist in the subject. It would seem that parents partly model their children’s needs on their own, by making them adapt at their pace of life. The sleep debt of toddlers would therefore have an organizational origin: it is difficult to scrupulously respect the recommended bedtime for children when both parents are working. Complicated, too, to force her offspring to fall asleep early when she uses the screens intensely. On average, in 2017, children aged 6 to 17 spent 4h11 per day in front of their tablet or computer. Adults, 5:07 a.m. “In children as in adults, sleep debts are largely linked to environmental factors, that is to say to the home in which the person evolves”, indicates Dr. Michel Lecendreux, child psychiatrist at the Robert-Debré Hospital, author of the book A child who sleeps well (Nathan editions). Attention taken hostage, and an environment that makes sleep more complicated: the noise of vehicles, restaurants in town, but also temperature variations linked to climate change make it more difficult for us to fall asleep.
Attention deficit risk
In the youngest, this loss of sleep is all the more deleterious as the brain is in full formation. If sleep deprivation experiments are not legion in children and newborns, those carried out show a significant impact. An American study has shown that a 5-hour night imposed on children aged 10 to 14 was enough to disrupt their learning. Another experiment, this time carried out on a group of 9 to 12 year olds, showed a great improvement in their school performance, but also in their behavior, when their sleep corresponded to their needs. A restless and angry child at the end of the day is therefore most often a tired child. Similarly, several studies have shown that infants with sleep disorders later present a breeding ground for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. “A child who sleeps only six hours a night quickly has a sleep debt”, notes Dr. Lecendreux, who recalls the visit of this 14-year-old patient, suffering from attention deficit: “Before resorting to any medication, I recommended to his family to get back to a normal sleep pattern for his age group. We’ll see if the matter doesn’t resolve itself.”
As with adults, lack of sleep is also likely to cause mood swings in them, which can be more lasting over time, and promote anxiety and depression. “Sleep has a very strong impact on mental life, because the brain processes and metabolizes our emotions at night, observes Dr. Marc Rey, neurologist and president of the National Institute of Sleep and Vigilance. child is depressed, it’s simple: prevent him from sleeping”. A charming picture that forgets an essential element: the sleep habits taken after birth and early childhood often pursue us into adulthood. An infant who sleeps poorly will tend to turn into a teenager, then an adult who will struggle to find restorative sleep… and will risk suffering from some of the disorders.
To promote the rest of toddlers, scientists recommend the importance of education on the subject, which should be as present in our society as prevention relating to sport or hygiene. Raise awareness, so that parents re-establish regular bedtime schedules, on weekdays and weekends. “You must also make sure to stop exposing yourself to screens two hours before sleep,” advises Sabine Plancoulaine. During the day, finally, daytime hours should be used to do more outdoor sports. “Eat, move” and…sleep.