Sleep
Sleep is an essential part of your growing child's health. The amount
of sleep needed changes as the child grows older. Newborns sleep
approximately 16 to 17 hours a day, while preschoolers need only about 12
hours a day.
Normal sleep has two parts: rapid eye movement (REM) and nonrapid eye
movement (NREM). REM is an active form of sleep that is not as deep as
NREM sleep. Dreams often happen during REM sleep. NREM sleep is a deep
sleep. There are less body movements during this phase and the child
breathes at a more regular rate.
Sleep disturbances or problems are very common during infancy and
childhood, including having trouble getting your child to bed, nightmares,
and night terrors. Listed in the directory below you will find additional
information regarding sleep habits and your child, for which we have
provided a brief overview.
If you cannot find the information in which you are interested, please
visit the Growth and Development Online Resources
page in this Web site for an Internet/World Wide Web address that may
contain additional information on that topic.
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