This Grandma happened upon a great article on line, “How much sleep you need, depending on your age,” by Dana McMakin, May 14, 2021, MIC.
The best part of the article was a chart, “Recommended amount of Sleep, By Age Group,” Of Course, I have comments under each age group, as I have lived through all, have children and grandchildren who have lived with some. I like that the last category is only 64+. I am so annoyed when there is a category of 74+. I can deal with 64+ and refuse to relate to any category including higher ages.
The categories are truly a generalization. This Grandma gives the reality check.
0-3 months 14-17 hours
How wonderful! A newborn is a great sleeper, but in short spurts 2-3 hours at a time, and then the “care” takes a fourth hour. One thinks there is nothing to do with a newborn other than feed, change diapers, swaddle, and hold and rock, but with a baby nurse you have a trained newborn. Yes, there are newborn “toys,” but few are wonderful. Parents need to sleep when newborns sleep. The round the clock treadmill does not stop. Grandparents can provide respite or pay for it, and they should pay for at least part of the baby nurse. Then there are “baby signals,” to learn the baby’s temperament, which makes a difference in handling a newborn.
See blog post, “Baby Signals are Grandchildren’s Signals Forever and Not Just About Feeding A Hungry Baby.”
See blog post, “The Sunshine Symphony is The One Perpetually Award Winning Newborn, Baby, and Toddler Toy That Is A Must Have For Any New Parent.”
See blog post, “The Best New Teethers and Pacifiers and New Study That Parents SHOULD Suck on Them To Clean Them.”
See blog post, “New Baby Clothing Made With Magnet Closures Make Middle of the Night Changes A Breeze.”
4-11 MONTHS 12-15 HOURS
You may wonder why I included pacifiers and teethers for 0-3 months. That is because of “expert” recommendations that if you do not wean the newborn off a pacifier by three months, then you may be stuck with a preschooler sucking a pacifier. From my experience, you can wean a baby off a pacifier that early and it is fine, and won’t affect their sleeping.
What does affect a baby’s sleeping is teething. What the great article does not include is that parents are very lucky to get the baby to sleep 12-15 continuous hours. Just when one gets the baby to sleep through the night (note: it means 5 hours straight for a newborn), the teething starts, baby is up crying during the night again, and parental sleep is intermittent too. Now, it is a crying baby in pain to take care of when the parent is exhausted. So much for 12-15 hours at 4-11 months.
There are so many studies about methods to get babies to sleep through the night. See blog post, “What Grandmas Know About Babies Sleeping Through The Night Predates the Studies and Shows The Value of Experience”
1-2 YEARS 11-14 HOURS
No matter what parents are told otherwise, teething continues so sleep is interrupted for longer than parents think. See post, Baby Teeth to Adult Molars Information By Chart For Grandparents
Thankfully, these hours include two naps. The next issue for this age group is when to go from two naps (euphoria breaks) to one longer nap. Most toddlers transition from two naps to one nap a day by 18 months.
2-5 YEARS 10-13 HOURS
The biggest issue for parents in this age group is when to give up naps altogether. Naps gradually taper off over these years. By age 5, most children no longer take a regular nap.
6-13 YEARS 9-11 HOURS
The NIH library has an extensive catalog of articles on sleep in children and teens.
14-17 YEARS 8-10 HOURS
Sleep that is needed is different than sleep that is wanted and when. Unfortunately, school starts too early for this age group, but schools are now realizing that teens need morning sleep.
See, “Duration Isn’t Everything. Healthy Sleep in Children and Teens: Duration, Individual Need and Timing,”
18-64 YEARS 7-9 HOURS
Look at this age group. This Grandma has never seen an age group this large. It caused me to go to the National Sleep Foundation website and how they came to their conclusions, March 10, 2021. Take a look.
64+ YEARS 7-8 HOURS
In this age group, the most significant change I have noticed is going to sleep earlier and rising earlier. I guess that is why “early bird” dinners are so popular with us!
So, the best reason why our grand babies need more sleep than we do? Because we (and their parents) need the break when they sleep.
Joy,
Mema
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