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Sleep is fundamental for our health and well-being.

But, depending on our age, we don't have the same needs.

Both bedtime and sleep duration change.

To have a restful sleep, it is essential to go to bed All in good time and for one sufficient duration.

This is true for adults, but also - and above all - for kids !

The problem is that we do not necessarily know what time we should put our children to bed ...

Fortunately, here is the practical guide to knowing what time to sleep your child according to his age. Look :

To print this guide in PDF version, click here.

Obviously, all children are different and you know when yours got enough sleep (or not).

The problem is that we sometimes think "if my child stays up late at night, it does not matter: he will sleep just later tomorrow morning ... ".

This often happens with our teens, who always want to postpone bedtime.

Error ... this is what happens to our children when they go to bed too late :

1. They have trouble falling asleep

Once your child gets past “his natural time range” of sleep, his body will produce adrenaline and a steroid hormone called cortisol.

These 2 hormones will stimulate his body instead of helping him fall asleep.

You may have already noticed that by putting him to bed later than usual, he suddenly becomes very excited, agitated or even crying ...

He is not at all ready to sleep, precisely because of the production of these hormones.

2. They wake up during the night

When a child goes to bed too late, their sleep will never be as restful as normal.

He will probably wake up one or more times during the night.

This is also explained here by the fact that his body produces cortisol ...

3. They wake up early in the morning

It may sound weird, but it is: the later you go to bed, the earlier you may wake up.

This is due to all these biological disorders in his body that prevent him from fully enjoying a good night's sleep.

4. In total, they sleep less

Scientific studies have shown that children who went to bed late ended up getting fewer hours of sleep than those who went to bed earlier.

This proves that a child who goes to bed late never "makes up" for hours of sleep by getting up later or taking naps during the day ...

It is therefore very important to know what time and for how long on average your baby or child should sleep.

At what time should we put our children to bed?

New born :

- 15 to 18 hours of sleep

- No fixed bedtime, because biological cycles are just emerging.

They often sleep in slices of sleep ranging from 2 hours to 4 hours, day and night.

Between 1 and 4 months:

- 14 to 15 hours of sleep

- Go to bed between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

These babies still need a lot of sleep for their development.

But since they wake up at night to eat, naps are still essential.

Between 4 and 8 months:

- 14 to 15 hours of sleep

- Go to bed between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Biological cycles begin to appear.

Long regular naps (ideally around 9 a.m., 12 p.m. and 3 p.m., for example) and an early bedtime become essential.

This allows babies to get enough sleep to develop physically and mentally.

If the naps were short during the day, then we try to put the baby to bed earlier ...

Between 8 and 10 months:

- 12 to 15 hours of sleep

- Go to bed between 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

At this age, a baby will sometimes only take 2 naps (around 9 a.m. then 1 p.m.).

In the evening, bedtime must therefore take place within 4 hours of the end of the second nap.

We can move it forward if we see that the nap was not long enough.

Between 10 and 15 months:

- 12 to 14 hours of sleep

- Go to bed between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

At this age, your baby may only take one afternoon nap.

In this case, bedtime should be temporarily brought forward.

Your child should go to bed within 4 hours of waking up from a nap.

Between 15 months and 3 years:

- 12 to 14 hours of sleep

- Go to bed between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Sometimes babies do not nap at this age or very short naps.

If so, they should go to bed a little earlier in the evening.

Between 3 and 6 years old:

- 11 to 13 hours of sleep

- Go to bed between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Your child is probably reluctant to get some sleep during the day now.

If so, this complete absence of a nap should be compensated for by an extra hour of sleep at night.

So you need to adjust the bedtime accordingly.

Between 6 and 12 years old:

- 10 to 11 hours of sleep

- Go to bed between 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.

It is the time of the first steps in school and, at this age, your child continues his physical and mental development.

At the same time, he is very active, plays, laughs, shouts and runs everywhere ...

So it requires a lot of sleep. This is absolutely necessary for him to flourish at school and for his ability to concentrate and his memory to be effective.

Over 12 years old:

- 9 hours (or more) of sleep

- Bedtime is to be adapted according to your schedule.

Many teens have to get up early to go to school. To know what time to go to bed, and to be sure that they will get enough sleep, count backwards from the time they wake up.

Before calculating this ideal schedule, know that teens take at least 15 minutes to fall asleep.

And often more when they have a lot of stuff on their minds.

Your turn...

Do your children go to bed at the times indicated in this guide? Share your experience in the comments. We can't wait to hear from you!

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Also to discover:

What time do the children go to bed? The Super Simple Guide For Parents.

This Table Shows What Time You Should Put Your Children to Bed.