Five Essential Reasons to Keep Naptime in the - Southern Early ...

Reasons for Naptime
in Early Childhood
Reason #1: Sleep Is Essential
to Good Health
Banning naptime for young children
has been compared by a pediatric
sleep expert to being as wise as taking
vegetables out of children’s daily diets
(Lamberg, 2004). Sleep affects every
facet of human life. Sleeping benefits
the body physically, psychologically,
emotionally, and cognitively.
Sleep provides the body with the
time it needs to rest and to renew
energy levels. Sleep helps maintain the
body’s immune system, as revealed by
the following findings:
• Sleep-deprived children may
be more susceptible to medical
problems such as allergies and
ear infections (Stein, Mendelsohn,
Obermeyer, Amromin,
& Benca, 2001).
• Sleep loss may affect a child’s
response to vaccinations. For
example, sleep deprivation
restricted the effectiveness of
flu shots (Spiegel, Sheridan,
& Van Cauter, 2002).
• Children with sleep deficit
also showed an increased
prevalence of allergies (Stein
et al., 2001).
Deep sleep is also important for
young children because the highest
levels of growth hormones are released
into the bloodstream during the first
half of the night while sleeping. Short
sleeping hours show a marked decrease
in the secretion of these growth hormones
(King & Price, 1983; Müller,
Locatelli, & Cocchi, 1999; Sheen,
Byrne, Plat, Leproult, & Cauter, 1996;
Teel, 2006).
The increase in childhood obesity
is becoming a major public health
Subjects & Predicates
When children are forced to remain awake when they really need to nap, everything
from motor skills and coordination to critical thinking and creativity suffers. Sleep
deprivation can have significant short- and long-term consequences for young children—cognitively,
physically, and socially.
Collaborate With Parents to Improve Sleep Habits
Mrs. Allison noticed that a couple of the children in her 4-year-old class
were gaining weight, seemed to lack energy, and were sleepy during the
day. Concerned that the children could be ill, she spoke with the parents
to find out more about the children’s activities at home as well as their
eating and sleeping habits.
The children were sleeping less than 6 hours a night because they
stayed up late watching TV. This explained the sleepiness, decrease in
attentiveness and physical activity, and subsequent weight gain.
Mrs. Allison explained to the families the strong correlation between
obesity and short sleep patterns in children (Sekine et al., 2002). The parents
shifted to an earlier bedtime, making a significant difference in the
children’s behavior in school. In addition, Mrs. Allison added more minutes
to these children’s naptime to make sure they were getting the
required amount of sleep.
As a result of these changes, the children’s physical activity began to
increase and they began to lose some of their excess weight.
concern for many families and medical
professionals. Research is now
beginning to show a link between
sleep loss and obesity in children.
• Inadequate sleep may cause
children to overeat (Sekine
et al., 2002). Lack of sleep
may cause a change in hormone
levels that control
hunger (Spiegel, Tasali, Penev,
& Van Cauter, 2004). This
results in increased hunger
4 Volume 36, Number 3 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Fall 2008