【嬰幼兒瞓得好重要嗎？要訓幾多先至夠？】

根據美國睡眠協會(ASA)，睡眠不足會影響腦部的活動及發展，增加患上二型糖尿病的風險，削弱免疫力，阻礙身體發育和減低專注力和記憶力。

兒科醫生及嬰幼兒睡眠專家Dr Marc Weissbluth 在他的著作「Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child」中也多次強調長期的睡眠不足會嚴重影響嬰幼兒的發展，除上述身體影響外，更會令孩子煩躁不安，影響情緒及學習能力。

那麼要睡多少才算是足夠呢？每個孩子也是獨特的，很難一概而論。因此，不同的睡眠權威在實質睡眠時數的指引方面也會有輕微的分別。其實，只要孩子的睡眠在參考範圍內或不差太遠，而孩子每天也表現得精神及開心，那我們便不用擔心孩子會睡眠不足。

家長可參考以下睡眠需要:

初生嬰兒: 每天14至17小時
3 – 11個月: 每天13到15小時
12 個月-3歲: 每天11到14小時
3-5 歲: 每天10到13小時
5到10歲: 每天9至11小時
10歲至17歲: 每天8至10小時

孩子睡得不足夠怎麼辦？家長可以做最簡單的一件事，就是培養孩子早睡早起的好習慣。研究顯示，越晚睡的孩子睡得足夠的機率就會越低，學習能力和專注力也比睡得好的孩子較遜色。

爸爸媽媽，讓我們一起保衛孩子的睡眠，給寶寶最基本的需要，讓他身心靈得以健康發展！

FeednSleep提供嬰幼兒睡眠改善服務，重點幫助0到4歲的孩子，建立良好的睡眠習慣，確保孩子得到充足和優質的休息。

Why is sleep important? How much sleep is enough for my baby?

According to the American Sleep Association (ASA), lack of sleep will affect brain activities and development, increase risk of type 2 diabetes, lower immunity, restrict body growth and decrease focus and memory.

American Pediatrician and child sleep expert Dr Marc Weissbluth mentioned in his book “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child” that chronic lack of sleep will severely affect the growth of a child. It causes mood swings and affect children’s cognitive abilities.

So how much sleep is enough? Every child is unique and it is impossible to give an exact number on how many hours your child need. Therefore, there is always small discrepancy in the recommended hours of sleep published by different sleep authorities. In fact, as long as your child’s hours of sleep fit into the range or close to the range, and he is basically happy and energetic. We do not need to be worried that he is not sleeping enough.

Let’s have a look on the daily sleep hours reference below:

1. Newborn : 14-17 hours
2. 3-11 months: 13-15 hours
3. 12months – 3 y.o.: 11-14 hours
4. 3-5 y.o: 10-13 hours
5. 5-10 y.o.: 9-11 hours
6. 10-17 y.o.: 8-10 hours

What to do if your child is not sleeping enough? The simplest way to help is to help him to sleep early. Research has shown that children who sleep early has higher chance of having enough sleep. Therefore, their focus and learning capacity are higher than those who sleep late and usually not enough.

Let’s respect our children’s sleep need and help them get enough sleep.

Reference: National Sleep Foundation National Heart, Lung and Blood Institutes