Missed Naps Could Put Toddlers At Risk

It amazes me how much I used to fight taking a nap when I was little, and just about what I would give to be able to flip off the lights at work, and catch a few zzz's during the day to recharge my batteries for the afternoon.  

Here is a little more on the importance of naps for toddlers:

A new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder could be a wake-up call for parents of toddlers: Daytime naps for your kids may be more important than you think. 

The study shows toddlers between 2 and a half and 3 years old who miss only a single daily nap show more anxiety, less joy and interest and a poorer understanding of how to solve problems, said CU-Boulder Assistant Professor Monique LeBourgeois, who led the study. The results indicate insufficient sleep alters the facial expressions of toddlers - exciting events are responded to less positively and frustrating events are responded to more negatively, she said. 

"Many young children today are not getting enough sleep, and for toddlers, daytime naps are one way of
making sure their 'sleep tanks' are set to full each day," she said. "This study shows insufficient sleep in the form of missing a nap taxes the way toddlers express different feelings, and, over time, may shape their developing emotional brains and put them at risk for lifelong, mood-related problems." 


"Just like good nutrition, adequate sleep is a basic need that gives children the best chance of getting what is most important from the people and things they experience each day," said LeBourgeois of the integrative physiology department. 

"The non-adaptive emotional effects we saw in toddlers who missed a single nap make us wonder how young kids who consistently don't get enough sleep deal with their complicated social worlds," said LeBourgeois, who undertook the study with colleagues while at Brown University. 

"A sleepy child in a classroom or daycare environment may not be able to engage with others and benefit from positive interactions," she said. "Their coping skills decrease and they may be more prone to tantrums or frustration, which would affect how other children and adults interact with them. This study shows that missing even a single nap causes them to be less positive, more negative and have decreased cognitive engagement." 

Similar interactions in the home setting could affect parent-child relationships and a child's quality of life, LeBourgeois said. 

"The goal of our study was to understand how losing sleep affects the way young kids respond emotionally to their world," said LeBourgeois. "This is important because toddlerhood is a sensitive period for developing strategies to cope with emotions and a time children naturally lose some sleep as they begin giving up their daytime naps." 

Original Article Here


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Nathan says:  As a new Dad it interesting to see how my daughter develops over time, and to see the stages where I can specifically identify her growth at a certain point in time.  Making sure that she has enough sleep will definitively be a priority especially during these formative years.


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