The Role of Sleep in Young Children’s Development: A Review

Abstract

This review article provides an overview of studies highlighting the importance of sleep in young children’s development and summarizes research-based strategies for implementing healthy sleep practices. Sleep problems are common among young children and is one of the most commonly expressed concerns reported by caregivers. Insufficient sleep, poor sleep quality, and irregular sleep schedules may affect children’s physical health, cognitive capacity, socioemotional processes, and behavioral functioning, with implications for children’s development and well-being. Family context and factors, confounded with cultural variables, play a critical role in children’s sleep behavior and practices. This article presents research-based recommendations to enhance knowledge about children’s sleep and to promote appropriate practices.

Keywords:

• Child health
• development
• early childhood
• family functioning
• sleep

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marisa Schlieber

Marisa Schlieber is a Research and Policy Associate at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests include factors that shape young children's development which include the role of early childhood education and children's sleep practices in addition to policies that affect the early childhood workforce. Her education and professional experiences have highlighted the influential role of health on children’s learning and development, and she is particularly interested in translating research into actionable policy solutions.

Jisu Han

Jisu Han is an associate professor of early childhood education at the Graduate School of Education at Kyung Hee University, South Korea. Her research interests include early educational intervention for supporting the development of young children living in poverty, language and literacy development, and the role of sleep in young children's development. She is also interested in examining metacognitive thinking processes of early childhood teachers. She teaches courses in early childhood development and educational psychology.