A Healthy Sleep Hints handout is available here for you to print out and pass on to parents. Printables will display a print-friendly format. After viewing or printing, select your browser's back button to return to the site. • Hints for Healthy Sleep Help parents identify factors that interfere with their child's sleep. You may want to suggest that they use the Sleep Diary. Keeping track of activities, foods, or habits that interfere with sleep will help parents and children make changes to promote better sleep. • Sleep Diary

How can you help your young patients sleep well? By helping their parents understand how important sleep is to children's health and development.

Make it a priority to discuss sleep with parents of school-age children. Remind parents that children need adequate sleep for their brains and bodies to stay healthy and to do their best.

Key points to make are:

• During sleep, the brain sorts and stores memories. And the body recovers from the wear and tear of daily life, staying strong and healthy.

• To do their best at school and play, children ages 7 to 11 need at least 9 hours of sleep on a regular basis.

• Inadequate sleep in children can result in not being able to pay attention, learn, or perform everyday activities. Symptoms include excessive daytime sleepiness, irritability, easy frustration, and difficulty modulating impulses and emotions and paying attention.

• Sleep deprivation symptoms are often overlooked or erroneously attributed to hyperactivity or behavior disorders.

• Children with chronic loud snoring or other sleep problems may have a sleep disorder.