Earlier Bedtimes for Children = More Sleep?

Could putting your children to bed earlier mean they sleep longer?

A new systematic review and meta-analysis published in JAMA Pediatrics looked at different nonpharmacological sleep interventions to improve sleep in healthy children. Researchers studied 13,539 children with an average age ranging from 18 months to 19 years from 45 randomized clinical trials, and found that interventions that included earlier bedtimes were associated with 47 minutes longer sleep duration per night.

Making sure your children are sleeping enough is critical for many aspects of their health, development, and well-being. Supporting and encouraging earlier bedtimes can be a simple, practical, and effective way to meaningfully increase sleep duration that could have important benefits for child health.