Nursery World - EYFS Best Practice: All about ... sleep

Getting enough sleep - and the right sort of sleep - is a crucial component for development. Natasha Kirkham explains why, and considers what advice practitioners can give to parents

With the possible exception of food, it is hard to imagine a topic that takes up more of a caregiver's mind than sleep. Does my child sleep enough? Do they sleep at the right times? Does your child sleep more than mine, or better than mine? Why is this child always tired? What about the great should they/shouldn't they nap debate? And let us not even tiptoe over to sleep training and the various regimens that parents are encouraged to adopt.

Yet there is very good reason to think and talk about sleep so much. Although we already know that a rested child is a happy child, it turns out that sleep does much more than just affect mood. In fact, sleep plays an essential role in a child's brain function and cognitive development. As caregivers and practitioners, what could be more important to us than that?

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