Colin Snow
Sleep is important for people of all ages, but early bedtimes are particularly beneficial for children. Research suggests that an early bedtime can improve a child's physical health, mood, and mental health, as well as their academic performance and emotional stability. It can also lower their risk of obesity and future illness.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Lower future obesity risk | |
| Improved growth | |
| Better academic achievement | |
| Improved emotional wellbeing | |
| Improved school performance | |
| Improved emotional stability | |
| Improved physical health | |
| Improved mood | |
| Improved mental health |
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What You'll Learn
It lowers their future obesity risk
The amount of sleep people get is vital to their overall health, but early bedtimes are especially important for young children. Getting your child ready for bed as early as 7 p.m. could lower their future obesity risk and make them less vulnerable to future illness while priming them for better growth, academic achievement, and emotional wellbeing. A growing body of research indicates that children who get to bed late are not, as they might suspect, lucky or sophisticated, but set up to fail. “Children’s natural rhythm is to need to go to sleep well before adults do, and if children are kept up as late as their parents, they’re being deprived the opportunity to grow and learn as well as possible,” says Andrew J. Bernstein, M.D., a professor of clinical paediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
As kids get older, sleep is still very important, but for different reasons. The benefits beyond early childhood skew more towards improved school performance and emotional stability, Bernstein notes. But by this time, if their sleep hygiene is horrible, it’s going to be that much harder to encourage healthy habits. Not every sleep-training method works for every family, but there are plenty of small things parents can do to foster earlier sleep schedules. Bernstein recommends utilising security objects such as a stuffed animal, slowly weaning the child from needing the parent at their bedside, and gradually lengthening the time parents leave kids alone in their cribs so they can develop the independence needed to fall asleep on their own.
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It improves their mood and mental health
Sleep is vital to a child's overall health, and early bedtimes are particularly important for young children. Getting your child to bed early can lower their future obesity risk and make them less vulnerable to future illness, while priming them for better growth, academic achievement, and emotional wellbeing.
Andrew J. Bernstein, M.D., a professor of clinical paediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, says:
> Children’s natural rhythm is to need to go to sleep well before adults do, and if children are kept up as late as their parents, they’re being deprived the opportunity to grow and learn as well as possible.
Reut Gruber, a researcher at McGill University in Canada and director of the Attention, Behavior and Sleep Lab at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, agrees:
> An early bedtime benefits a child’s physical health, as well as mood and mental health, because it allows time for restorative sleep, which is important for the repair and recovery of the brain and the body. Sleep deprivation impairs the physiological processes that allow for adaptive emotional regulation.
As children get older, sleep is still important, but for different reasons. The benefits beyond early childhood skew more towards improved school performance and emotional stability.
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It improves their academic performance
Sleep is vital to a child's overall health, and early bedtimes are particularly important for young children. Getting your child to bed early can lower their future obesity risk, make them less vulnerable to future illness, and prime them for better growth, academic achievement and emotional wellbeing.
Andrew J. Bernstein, M.D., a professor of clinical paediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, says:
> Children’s natural rhythm is to need to go to sleep well before adults do, and if children are kept up as late as their parents, they’re being deprived the opportunity to grow and learn as well as possible.
Research shows that children who go to bed late are set up to fail. As kids get older, sleep is still important, but for different reasons. The benefits skew more towards improved school performance and emotional stability.
Reut Gruber, a researcher at McGill University in Canada and director of the Attention, Behaviour and Sleep Lab at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, says:
> An early bedtime benefits a child’s physical health, as well as mood and mental health, because it allows time for restorative sleep, which is important for the repair and recovery of the brain and the body. Sleep deprivation impairs the physiological processes that allow for adaptive emotional regulation.
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It helps them develop emotional stability
Sleep is vital to a child's overall health, and early bedtimes are particularly important for young children. Getting your child to bed early can lower their future obesity risk, make them less vulnerable to future illness, and prime them for better growth, academic achievement, and emotional wellbeing.
Andrew J. Bernstein, M.D., a professor of clinical paediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, says that "children's natural rhythm is to need to go to sleep well before adults do, and if children are kept up as late as their parents, they're being deprived the opportunity to grow and learn as well as possible".
As children get older, sleep is still very important, but for different reasons. The benefits beyond early childhood skew more towards improved school performance and emotional stability. By this time, if their sleep hygiene is poor, it will be harder to encourage healthy habits.
Reut Gruber, a researcher at McGill University in Canada and director of the Attention, Behavior and Sleep Lab at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, says that "an early bedtime benefits a child's physical health, as well as mood and mental health, because it allows time for restorative sleep, which is important for the repair and recovery of the brain and the body". Gruber also notes that "sleep deprivation impairs the physiological processes that allow for adaptive emotional regulation".
Therefore, it is clear that an early bedtime helps children develop emotional stability.
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It primes them for better growth
Sleep is vital to a person's overall health, but early bedtimes are particularly important for young children. Getting your child to bed early can lower their future obesity risk, make them less vulnerable to future illness, and prime them for better growth, academic achievement, and emotional wellbeing.
Andrew J. Bernstein, M.D., a professor of clinical paediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, says that "children’s natural rhythm is to need to go to sleep well before adults do, and if children are kept up as late as their parents, they’re being deprived the opportunity to grow and learn as well as possible".
Research has shown that an early bedtime benefits a child's physical health, mood, and mental health. This is because it allows time for restorative sleep, which is important for the repair and recovery of the brain and the body. Sleep deprivation impairs the physiological processes that allow for adaptive emotional regulation.
As children get older, sleep is still important, but for different reasons. The benefits skew more towards improved school performance and emotional stability. However, if their sleep hygiene is poor, it will be harder to encourage healthy habits.
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Frequently asked questions
Early bedtimes are important for young children's overall health.
An early bedtime benefits a child's physical health, mood and mental health. It also lowers their future obesity risk and makes them less vulnerable to future illness while priming them for better growth, academic achievement, and emotional wellbeing.
The science suggests that early bedtimes are uniquely important for young children.
A growing body of research indicates that children who get to bed late are not lucky or sophisticated, but set up to fail.
