Understanding sleep across the Lifespan: From Infancy to Adolescence
Dr. C P Ravi Kumar
Sleep needs, patterns, developmental milestones and sleep challenges vary at different stages of life, and in this article, we will be learning about the importance of sleep at different stages of development and provide insights into the sleep patterns and challenges faced during infancy, childhood and adolescence.
Sleep is considered a time in which the mind and body rest and recuperate, but in actuality, sleep is a period of considerable neurologic and physiologic activity (Zee &Turek,1999)
Conclusion
Sleep needs and patterns vary across the lifespan, so ensuring age appropriate sleep duration is important for overall wellbeing and healthy development of brain and it also helps with reaching all the developmental milestones. Adequate sleep helps with learning, formation of long term memories, improves brain performance, mood and health.Not getting enough sleep can lead to problems focusing on tasks and thinking clearly.
There is more to good sleep than just the hours spent in bed, says Dr. Marishka Brown, a sleep expert at NIH who explains that Healthy sleep encompasses three major things, which are how much sleep you get, sleep quality, and consistent sleep schedule. Everything from blood vessels to the immune system uses sleep as a time for repair, says Dr. Kenneth Wright.
If you do not get enough sleep all these processes are going to be disturbed. As best we can, trying to make sleep a priority changes most of the problems in one’s life, I would like to conclude this article with a saying that “ Sleep is not something that can be neglected at any point in life, it is a biological necessity and should be given much importance”.
References
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- Wielek, T., Del Giudice, R., Lang, A., Wislowska, M., Ott, P., & Schabus, M. (2019). On the development of sleep states in the first weeks of life. PLoS ONE, 14(10), e0224521. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224521
- Wiggins, S. A., & Freeman, J. L. (2014). Understanding sleep during adolescence. PubMed, 40(2), 91–98. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24941511
- Vallido, T., Peters, K., O’Brien, L., & Jackson, D. (2009). Sleep in adolescence: a review of issues for nursing practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 18(13), 1819–1826. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2009.02812.x
- Dahl, R. E. (1999). The Consequences of insufficient sleep for adolescents: links between sleep and emotional regulation. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(5), 354. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ579411