Did you know that sleep presents a series of peculiarities in the childhood and adolescent stage? Sleep architecture varies with age and undergoes important changes throughout the life cycle. As we grow, the proportion of REM sleep decreases until between the ages of 3-5 it occupies only 20%, remaining in this proportion throughout adult life. Slow wave sleep or "deep sleep" (stages 3 and 4 of NoRem sleep) gradually decreases after the age of 20.
What is sleep like in childhood?
In infancy, sleep-wake periods are repeated several times during the day, and this pattern persists until 3-4 months. The percentage of REM sleep is greater than in adults and represents approximately half of total sleep. That is, in the neonatal period the electroencephalogram (EEG) pattern goes from the waking state to the REM state, without going through the stages of NoREM sleep.
Newborns sleep up to 20 hours a day, slowly decreasing to 13-14 hours by 6-8 months. At 2 years old, nighttime sleep is about 12 hours. By the age of 6, the duration of sleep cycles is stable at around 105-110 minutes and is characterized by a high percentage of NoREM sleep. At 10 years old, a child has a night's sleep lasting approximately 10 hours.
What is sleep like in adolescence?
In adolescence there is a significant decrease in slow wave sleep or "deep sleep." At this stage, the body needs about 9 hours of sleep at night, and taking into account that adolescents rarely complete this sleep period, the presence of different degrees of daytime sleepiness due to chronic sleep deprivation is common.
If you perceive that your child has sleep disturbances, or does not adjust to the aforementioned times and you are concerned that he or she is not resting adequately, I encourage you to see us for a consultation to assess your case and be able to guide you better.
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