The importance of rest for children in the process of growth and development

Children need more rest than adults. The ideal rest time children need varies depending on their age and stage of development. Rest for children is not only useful for restoring energy, but also plays an important role in the progress of the child's development process. However, meeting the need for rest hours is not enough. The child's rest time also needs to be of high quality so that the benefits are optimal. What should be done?

The role of rest for child development

No matter how active a child is in his growth period, he still needs rest every day. For adults, rest like sleeping is a routine part of a lifestyle that maintains a healthy body. If you lack rest, adults are not only at risk for health problems, but also have difficulty concentrating at work, often forget, and are prone to constant stress.

As with children, lack of rest leads to increased blood pressure, the risk of obesity, and depression. However, in the process of child development, getting quality sleep is as important as meeting the nutritional needs of the body.

According to Doctor Rachel Dawkins, a pediatrician at Johns Hopskins Children's Hospital, when children get enough rest every day, they will show more rapid development of cognitive abilities such as reasoning, memory, and focus.

The benefits of rest for children, especially sleep, are also shown in studies conducted in a span of 1 year in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. Children (9-11 years) who slept longer each day showed higher cognitive scores. The cognitive value is determined from the volume of the area in the child's brain structure obtained from the reading of the tool.

The group of children who slept for a shorter period of time showed smaller volume values around the prefrontal, the part of the forebrain that regulates memory and emotional control.

The study also found the long-term impact of shorter hours of sleep on children's emotional development. The shorter the hours of sleep, the child is more susceptible to mental health problems. Not infrequently, children's behavior becomes more hyperactive and has difficulty placing themselves in a social environment.

Ideal break time for children

Every child needs a different rest time each day depending on their age. Reporting from the Sleep Foundation in children aged 3-12 years, children aged under five need the longest hours of sleep, namely 11-13 hours per day. Meanwhile, the rest time for children aged 6-12 years is to fulfill 10 hours of sleep.

Apart from the duration of the child's sleep at night, children can also fulfill their resting needs by taking naps and relaxation activities. Because the need for rest time for children tends to be more than for adults, children are actually allowed to share their sleeping hours with naps.

According to Kids Health, ideally, children should take between 2-3 hours of nap time to match their sleeping hours at night so that their nighttime sleep patterns are not disturbed.

How to improve the quality of children's rest time

To get the maximum benefit of rest, it is not enough just to meet the needs of the hours of sleep. The quality of rest, such as being able to sleep well, is equally important.

Even though they are still small, children cannot be separated from various sleep disorders that cause children to have difficulty sleeping or unable to sleep peacefully. One reason is messy sleeping hours.

Therefore, it is important to set a regular bedtime every day. Make sure the child goes to bed and gets up at the same time. When children have trouble sleeping, keep things away, such as toys or gadgets, that can disturb their thoughts before going to sleep. School-age children need more time to sleep.

If it turns out that the child remains restless during sleep and even wakes up in the middle of the night, sleep habits and healthy alias sleep hygiene can be tried as a bedtime routine. Research from the University of British Columbia shows that children's sleep quality can improve when they do some clean and healthy routines such as: