How can you optimize your baby’s sleep? – CHOC

Insights from Dr. Chris MinA child psychologist and manager of the mental health service line at Rady Children’s Health (Rady Children’s)

key takeaways

• Watch daytime behavior for sleep clues: Irritability, trouble concentrating, or falling asleep during the day often indicate poor sleep at night and may even mimic ADHD symptoms.
• Regular routine leads to better sleep: Establishing predictable bedtime habits, reducing nighttime terrors, and encouraging children to fall asleep independently help reinforce healthy sleep patterns.
• Limit electronics to protect comfort: Removing devices from bedrooms and reducing screen time in the evening helps natural melatonin production and prevents over-stimulation that can delay sleep.

Improve your baby’s sleep with expert-backed strategies

Sleep is one of the most important building blocks of baby’s physical health, emotional well-being, and cognitive development, but it’s also one of the most common challenges for parents. From resistance to falling asleep to waking up at night and waking up early in the morning, sleep troubles can leave both children and caregivers feeling tired and overwhelmed.

Here, Dr. Chris Min, a pediatrician and supervisor in integrated primary care with Rady Children’s, shares practical tips and research-backed strategies to help optimize your child’s sleep.

How much sleep do children need?

From birth, babies are not yet able to distinguish between day and night, so they sleep in short periods throughout the day. Typically, infants start out with two naps – one in the late morning and one in the afternoon – which eventually transition to one afternoon nap by preschool age (about 4–5 years).

Once children reach kindergarten, they usually abandon daytime naps altogether and rely on nighttime sleep. During early childhood, children typically need about 11 to 12 hours of sleep a night. As they grow up, their total sleep needs gradually decrease, with additional changes in sleep patterns often emerging during puberty.

Signs your child’s sleep may be disrupted

How can parents and caregivers recognize when sleep patterns are being disrupted? According to Dr. Min, one of the best methods they can adopt is to monitor their child’s daily functioning.

“When I say daytime functioning, I mean how are they performing academically in school? How are they performing on the behavioral front in school? Are they irritable? Can they follow orders and directions? Are they able to follow through and complete their daily activities or are they struggling? If they’re struggling, you’ll want to find out if it’s due to lack of sleep,” he advises.

The most obvious sign that a child is not getting enough sleep is that he or she falls asleep easily during the day, such as taking a nap in the car after school. Lack of sleep can also affect academic performance, causing trouble with concentration, hyperactivity, and behavior that mimics ADHD.

In fact, physicians sometimes mistakenly diagnose children with ADHD when poor sleep quality or insufficient sleep causes the symptoms. Unlike adults, who may feel tired when they lack sleep, children often become irritable, irritable, moody, and struggle with emotional regulation and concentration.

What causes poor sleep in children?

When helping young children establish good sleep hygiene, it is important to first identify the underlying reasons why they are having difficulty sleeping. In some cases, medical problems such as sleep apnea affect sleep quality and require evaluation by a health care professional. However, for many young children, fear and anxiety about sleeping alone in the dark are common challenges.

Parents can help by creating a consistent bedtime routine that promotes relaxation and a sense of security — such as wearing pajamas, reading a story, engaging in quiet, screen-free activities, and spending a few minutes together before lights out. It is important to encourage independent sleep rather than keeping the child lying in bed, which can create sleep associations that are difficult to break. Transitional items like special stuffed animals or blankets can also provide comfort and help babies feel secure at bedtime.

“I have two kids, and one of my kids has a purple blanket that she’s had since she was a baby. That’s a transitional item,” shares Dr. Min. “It helps her feel safe, helps her feel safe, and it’s a night-specific thing that she has so she knows, ‘Okay, it’s time to sleep. And as long as I have my blanket, I’m ready to sleep.'”

A special consideration: electronic devices

With regard to electronics and sleep, it’s not just blue light that hinders rest, although blue light suppresses melatonin and signals the brain to wake up. The social engagement that comes with frequent device use (texting, social media, scrolling through apps) can also overstimulate the brain, making it harder for kids to wind down.

For this reason, it is recommended that phones and devices be completely removed from the bedroom at night. In adolescents, additional challenges arise due to natural changes in circadian rhythms during puberty, which make teens biologically inclined to stay awake longer and sleep longer. Early school start times and late night device use combined often lead to severe sleep deprivation in this age group.

Solving Sleep Problems: Next Steps

When a child is experiencing sleep problems, the first step is usually to consult your pediatrician. In more complex cases, a multidisciplinary sleep clinic can provide the most comprehensive care. At clinics like Rady Children’s, teams of specialists including neurology, pulmonology, and psychology work together to assess and treat the full range of factors that affect a child’s sleep.

Because sleep problems often involve a combination of medical, behavioral, and emotional issues, access to multiple specialists allows for a more coordinated and personalized treatment plan, especially for children struggling with conditions such as sleep apnea, anxiety, epilepsy, or autism.

“If you don’t have access to a multidisciplinary sleep center or clinic, I would urge you to seek out a professional based on the main issue affecting your child’s sleep,” Dr. Min advises. “So, if that’s the case sleep apneagoing for one pulmonologist Probably the best bet. If it’s something neurologically related, going to you Neurologist Is the best. And if it’s more behavior-based, issues like ‘my child won’t go to sleep on his own tonight’ or ‘my child is really scared at night and doesn’t want to sleep’, then seeing a behavioral health provider or psychologist “It would be best.”

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