Sleep is a crucial element in the proper development of a child. Very early on, the infant gets into the habit of taking naps, at the time of early memory development. Although children generally stop taking naps between the ages of 3 and 5, some feel the need for longer. However, some parents have doubts about the need to maintain these moments of rest. What if the child – the ultimate nightmare – no longer wanted to sleep at night? In fact, short naps have the opposite effect, promoting better sleep, according to New Scientist magazine.
In France, children enter nursery school at the age of 3 and the nap dilemma is common among teaching staff. “Even though the benefits of naps on cognitive development are well known, some parents and teachers fear that they prevent children from falling asleep at night or that they reduce learning time”explains Stéphanie Mazza, neuroscience researcher at the University of Lyon 1.
To find out, Stéphanie Mazza and her colleagues analyzed the behavior of 85 children aged 2 to 5, spread across six different nursery schools in France. Over the course of a week, five researchers collected data using bracelets measuring sleep and a monitoring form to be completed by parents. Their study has just been pre-published on the Research Square platform.
Precious moments of rest
The result showed that an extra hour of nap time in a child’s day resulted in an average of 13.6 minutes less nighttime sleep, delaying bedtime by just 6.4 minutes. When they take a nap, however, children sleep 45 minutes more per day.
“Naps lead to a significant increase in total sleep time over twenty-four hours”summarizes Stéphanie Mazza. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a sleep cycle of between ten and thirteen hours per day for children aged 2 to 5 years. The researcher also states that “Parents should not worry if their child still needs naps until age 6”.
“Our data suggests that naps help increase total sleep, even if it delays bedtime a bitdetails Stéphanie Mazza. Rather than seeing them as a nuisance, naps should be seen as a valuable source of rest, especially when children are in very stimulating environments.” Rebecca Spencer, professor of cognitive science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, adds in conclusion: “To me that means: If they can nap, let them nap.”
