"U.S. children lack good sleep habits"

"Sophie" wrote in message
...
Well let's answer this ourselves then.

How old are your children?

3.5

How much sleep do they get?

nighttime: about 8:30-6:30 (10 hours)
daytime: about 1.5 hours for
total in 24 hours: 11.5

Is it enough for them?

yes, any less though and I can tell

Is it *normal* to you?

yes
--
JennP.

mom to Matthew 10/11/00
EDD #2 10/24/04
remove "no........spam" to reply

How old are your children?
How much sleep do they get?

3 yo: Goes to bed 8:30-9:00, wakes around 6:00-6:30; usually takes a 1.5
or 2 hr. nap (though sometimes will refuse to nap).
1 yo: Goes to bed 8:00-8:30, wakes around 6:30; takes 2 or 2.5 hr. nap.

Is it enough for them?

Both of them wake in the morning on their own; no alarm clocks or waking
each other, so I assume they're getting enough sleep.

The 1 yo. has been taking only one nap a day for months now, mostly because
Mommy kind of forced the issue; when the two of them were sleeping at
different times during the day, it was awful for all of us. My older son
would keep the baby awake when I was trying to get the baby to nap; the
baby would wake his older brother; it was just horrible. So I sometimes
think the 1 yo. would still like a morning nap, but it just creates too
much chaos. Thankfully, he takes a nice, long nap in the afternoon.

Is it *normal* to you?

Well, the sleep arrangement in our household often feels like a house of
cards, but we do the best we can.

-- Alpha
mom to Eamon and Quinn

Thanks Richard. You know it's funny, but when Taylor had 2 naps a day,
neither rarely went over an hour. But now that she is having one nap a day,
she is definitely sleeping for up to 2 hours, sometimes longer. She was the
queen of catnapping for so long -- at 6 months, she'd sleep 20-30 minutes at
a time, 6 times a day. Talk about not being able to get anything done! Now
that she is sleeping longer and longer, I'm really enjoying the freedom to
get stuff done! So, me wanting longer naps feels fairly selfish, since
she's only been sleeping in a 1.5-2 hour block for a few weeks now. But
having tasted freedom, I want more!
--

Jamie & Taylor
Earth Angel, 1/3/03

Check out Taylor Marlys -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest, Password:
Guest
Become a member for free - go to Add Member to set up your own User ID and
Password

Handmade Baby Blankets -- www.geocities.com/digit_the_cat/Blankets.html


"Richard" wrote in message
...
Jamie Clark wrote:
: [Taylor] goes down anywhere from 7:30-8:30pm, depending on the day, and
wakes up
: pretty much at 6:30am. She also takes a 1-2.5 hour nap during the day.
:
: Is it enough for them?
:
: Yes, I think it is. She's just recently started to condense from 2 naps
to
: 1, but I wish the 1 was a bit longer...

Jamie, Micaela, 17mo, went from 2 naps to 1 at about 15 months. At first,
her one nap was too short and pretty clearly not enough. After about a
month
of that, her one nap lengthened, and now it's usually over two hours
envy!,
typically something like 12:50-ish to 3:10-ish, though usually later on
weekends.

I know a single data point is pretty much useless for any generalization,
but
for her, anyway, it almost seemed like her body had to learn that, having
only
one nap, that nap had to be longer, and that it took a few weeks for her
body
to learn that lesson.

Richard
Micaela's dad

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 14:03:30 -0500, "Sophie"
wrote:

Well let's answer this ourselves then.

How old are your children?

5, 3, 20months

How much sleep do they get?
#1 and #2 generally sleep from about 8.30pm to about 7am
#3 generally sleeps from about 7pm to 6.30/7am, then has a 2 hour nap
in the middle of the day

Is it enough for them?

Not for the older two. Both of them are constantly sleep deprived.

Is it *normal* to you?

It wasn't until they started sharing a room. Before that both boys
were sleeping at least half an hour more a day. Some nights they will
muck around for up to 2 hours after I put them to bed and the next day
they misbehave a lot more. It's almost like ADHD symptoms - they can
hear what I say and repeat it back to me but they can't process the
instructions to do what they are supposed to.

By the way, the people who did this poll released their recommended
sleep ranges:
Age Group Recommendation Poll Findings
Infants (3-11 months) 14-15 hours 12.7 hours
Toddlers (12-35 months) 12-14 hours 11.7 hours
Preschoolers (3-5 yrs old
& 6 yr olds in Kindergarten) 11-13 hours 10.4 hours
School-aged (1st –5th grade) 10-11 hours 9.5 hours

The whole text is:
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/NSAW/...ll_release.cfm


--
Cheryl
Mum to Shrimp (11 Mar 99), Thud (4 Oct 00)
and Mischief (30 Jul 02)

Sophie wrote in message
Well let's answer this ourselves then.

How old are your children?

11 yrs, 8 yrs and 7 yrs.

How much sleep do they get?

I put them to bed at 8 PM and we read for a bit. They get up at 7 AM.

Is it enough for them?

For DD1 and DD2 it is. For DD3, it isn't enough sleep. She needs around 12
hours and proves it on the weekends. But, she is a night owl and won't go to
sleep until late. Then, she has a hard time getting up and the cycle
continues.

Is it *normal* to you?

It seems normal to me. We have a friend who thinks our kids need less sleep
and laughs at us for putting them to bed so early. But, they are proving
that *they* do need the sleep.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)
I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World...

"Sophie" wrote in message
...
Well let's answer this ourselves then.

How old are your children?

16 months

How much sleep do they get?

A 1.5-2 hour nap, plus 11-12 hours at night. So 12.5 to 14 hours per 24.

Is it enough for them?

The times Sarah sleeps closer to 14 hours, yes. When she takes a shorter
nap and gets up earlier in the morning, she looks tired to me - circles
under her eyes, etc. But like you, I can't make her sleep more.

Is it *normal* to you?

It's ideal. I get a 1.5 hour break in the afternoon, and she goes to bed
for the night at 7pm. I can't imagine anything better,

Donna

I wonder though 69% American children compared to what percentage around
the world? Maybe that is just a normal phase all children go through,
all over the world.

Here is a challenging fact (I got it from my teacher's notes in a brain,
mind & behavior class):
" Infants & children secrete higher levels of melatonin (can be thought
of as a 'time keeping hormone', shifting the brain & body from daytime
to nighttime mode) than adults. Recent research has revealed that
children & adolescents seem to secrete melatonin for longer periods than
adults, & may not return to normal daytime levels until well after 9 a.m."

So, if this is a known fact, why do the majority of schools start class
earlier than 9 in the morning? Wouldn't it be more beneficial for
children to go to school around noon time, when their bodies & brains
are rested & not in sleeping mode?

Mona
due 07-31-04

Mike wrote:

U.S. children lack good sleep habits
A poll finds that 69 percent of American children lose sleep at least
a few nights a week and that overall, youngsters are not getting the
recommended amount of sleep for their respective age groups.
at http://www.washtimes.com/national/20...2957-4786r.htm