Sleep – we all need it, especially our children. Two-thirds of children age 10 and younger have sleep problems. Lack of sleep has been linked to poor school performance in adolescents and irritability and overall fussiness in infants and toddlers. Here are tips to help your child sleep:

Infants (newborn to 18 months)
Sleep needed: 10 to 18 hours of sleep a day (including naps).
• Develop daytime nap and bedtime schedules and stick to them.
• Create an enjoyable bedtime routine that you do every night with your child.
• Establish a safe sleep environment. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends infants be placed on their backs in a crib without soft objects and bedding such as pillows, quilts and stuffed animals.
• Put infants to bed drowsy, but not yet asleep, to encourage them to fall asleep on their own.

Toddlers and preschoolers (19 months to 4 years)
• Sleep needed: 11 to 14 hours a day (including naps).
• Develop a bedtime routine such as having a snack or reading a story. Make sure the routine ends with your child in his or her own bed.
• Create a bedroom environment that is the same every night - cool, dark, quiet and comfortable.
• If your child is afraid, suggest a blanket or stuffed animal for company.
• If your child wakes in the middle of the night, try to redirect him or her back to bed with minimal interactions.

School-aged children (5 to 12 years)
Sleep needed: 9 to 11 hours a night.
• Talk to your school-aged child about healthy sleep habits and why they are important.
• Enforce consistent sleep schedules and bedtime routines, even on weekends.
• Make your child’s bedroom the best environment for sleep – dark, cool and quiet.
• Avoid having a TV or computer in your child’s bedroom.
• Balance your child’s schedule. Never let activities take the place of sleep.
• Teach your child to eat healthy and exercise regularly. Overweight children are at risk for sleep apnea, a serious sleep disorder.

Be a good role model and make sleep a priority for the whole family. Talk to your child’s doctor if you have concerns. Most sleep problems are treatable.

Children’s Hospital has the only pediatric sleep laboratory in the state that is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Children with sleep disorders can be evaluated in the pediatric sleep disorders clinic.  A pediatric sleep laboratory is available for children who need additional testing. If your child has a sleep problem, talk to his or her doctor or call (414) 266-2790.

By Nan Norins, MD, pediatric sleep specialist in the Sleep Center at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

FAST FACT: Sleep is the primary activity of the brain during early development. Throughout childhood and adolescence, sleep accounts for 40 percent of a child's average day. March 3-9 is National Sleep Awareness Week.