From the multiple daytime naps of newborns, to half-hour naps in nursery school. The schedule and sleep time varies with the child's age, as his own circadian rhythm is regularized, or in other words, his internal biological clock. But these breaks during the day are still essential during their first years of life.
The studies endorse the importance of the nap, because it helps them regain strength but also facilitates their development. But How should babies take a nap to be really beneficial?
How long should it last?
There is no single pattern, since each child is a world and has different needs. Some of them have half an hour to recover their strength and others need a two-hour nap.
According to the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP), "Naps are common until 3-4 years. But from this age, some children continue to sleep in the middle of the afternoon without interfering with their nighttime sleep."
It is true that as they grow, long naps can influence the time to go to sleep at night, but as a child it does not affect at all and they continue to fall asleep at their time. There are even children who, if they don't take a nap, will get more upset and tense at night and it will cost them more to fall asleep.
Regarding the number of naps:
The newborns They spend most of the day sleeping. In fact, before six months they need to sleep approximately 16 to 20 hours each day and, as it is impossible for all that time to be at night, they will take many daytime naps. After that time is reduced.
From three months, babies establish a nap routine. They usually take one mid-morning, another in the afternoon and even a third after bathing.
Between one and two years It is likely that one of the two breaks will be suppressed little by little, usually in the morning. But they will continue sleeping in the afternoon nap, which will be reduced in time, as the months progress. You have to let your natural biological rhythm adjust your duration.
In Babies and more The nap helps the baby retain what they have learned during the day- Two to five years. Sleep needs make it recommended that children take an afternoon nap as a routine until they are five years old, but this is not always the case. There are children who do not want or are unable to sleep during the day, while others abandon the habit because at school they do not have time or space to lie down.
When and where to take a nap
There is also no 'instruction guide' on how children should take a nap, although we must ensure that:
- Be more or less at the same time. As with nighttime sleep, since they are young it is important to establish a nap routine, so that the baby can differentiate it from long nighttime sleep.
It does not need to be at a strict time, but approximate. Routines give the child the security they need. So you will know, for example, that after lunch comes the nap.
In Babies and more A new study states that babies could sleep longer if they did in their own room- The child is comfortable and relaxed, in a quiet environment, Even if it's not in his crib. If it is in your room, you must ensure that you are not silent or in total darkness, although it is an ideal environment to rest.
Nothing happens if you hear the daily sounds of family activity, provided they are moderate. If you get used to total silence, it will cost you to sleep in places where it is impossible: in the house of a friend or family member, traveling, in a hotel ..., because you will startle at the minimum noise.
- There are routines to help you fall asleep which can be similar to those of the night: put relaxing music, rock it in your arms, sing a song or walk it in your chair.
Nap Benefits
Help the baby regain strength, because with a few months he does not stop exploring and moving. This eliminates accumulated fatigue.
But it also predisposes you to retain what you learned during the day. According to a team of researchers at the Ruhr University of Bochum in Germany, napping improves short-term memory storage in children between one and three years, whose brains are constantly evolving.
And even before, because babies learn while they sleep: it is proven that the nap helps to consolidate declarative memory, responsible for evoking data consciously and memories in children between six months and a year. It seems that sleeping at least 30 minutes helps them retain and remember new learning better, even up to 24 hours after learning them.
Pause that It helps them to assimilate what they have learned and leave room for new information. After a period of sleep, they retain the concepts much better. Hence the importance of continuing to take a nap in nursery school: they support their learning and they perform visual and spatial tasks better than other children who do not enjoy that time of sleep.
But Diruno rest offers more advantages to the child:
It helps you rest better at night, since the nap in the middle of the afternoon helps him not to get to bedtime with excessive exhaustion, which can alter him and makes it difficult to sleep.
Tension is removed, with which most children will get up in a good mood and ready to face the rest of the day.
Reduces children's hyperactivity and anxiety, as confirmed by different studies. In addition, not taking a nap in childhood is associated with more impulsive behavior and an increased risk of depression and nightmares.
In Babies and more, is it true that children grow up while they sleep?- The nap too favors abstract learning of children, which helps them to understand and predict language, that is, the ability to recognize new words and phrases.
A small loss of sleep time in a prolonged way in the beginning of childhood is related to a worse school performance and little sleep during the first four years multiplies the risk of language delay. Likewise, a sleepless night will have obvious consequences: the capacity to retain new data is reduced by almost 40%.
So you know: your son's nap is sacred. To be beneficial for him, you just have to respect his rhythms and needs, adopting some basic measures that favor it. And remember not to force him to suspend them because he has already turned five: as the AEP says they are not bad and there are children who are more sleepy than others and need them to continue functioning. He will decide when he doesn't need them anymore.
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