100 Years of Worry about Kids and Sleep

Parents worry that the distractions of modern life are keeping their kids from getting enough sleep. And it looks like they’ve had the same worry for more than 100 years. A new study took a historic look at recommendations on sleep for kids. The oldest advice was from 1897 and the newest from 2009. The recommended amount of nightly sleep for kids has declined by about 80 minutes in that time. So has the amount of sleep kids actually get. Kids’ average sleep time has been about 37 minutes a night less than whatever was recommended at the time. The authors said sleep needs may vary from child to child. They said parents who wonder if their kids are sleeping enough should watch for signs of daytime sleepiness. The journal Pediatrics published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it February 13.