Share
6th November 2024
12:51pm GMT
Research has claimed that once your child turns two, you need to pull the plug on the naps.
Experts said: "Napping after the age of two could be impacting the quality of sleep your child is getting at night – which in turn can affect things like behaviour, cognition and physical health."
And then the scientists went on to link this poorer sleep quality with all sorts of health and behavioural issues like developmental delays, obesity and emotional problems later down the track.
Professor Karen Thorpe and her team of researchers at the Queensland University of Technology looked into nap protocols of childcare centres and whether or not the children really needed those naps in the first place. What they found, was that after the age of two, children were able to self-regulate their need for naps, therefore forcing them to sleep during the day could affect valuable nighttime sleep.
“Parents should not assume that day sleep and night sleep are the same and therefore by giving them a nap they’re getting more sleep, because that doesn’t happen,” Professor Thorpe says.
“Once they no longer biologically need sleep during the day all you’re doing by making them nap is subtracting from night sleep because you disrupt it.”
Explore more on these topics:
