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To Sleep, Perchance to Dream…
Ay There's the Rub
How much do children really need and what are the effects of too much or too little?

by Sophie Cross

One of the things I just haven't quite got to grips with living in Spain is children's sleeping patterns. Here children (and tiny ones at that) regularly stay up until well past midnight, although they tend to have an hour or two's sleep in the afternoon through the heat of the day and in holiday time sleep later in the morning.

As an English/Australian parent I find not only difficult from the point of view of the needs of my child, but also frightening from a parent's point of view.

When do the kids sleep? How on earth do they get enough sleep to function, behave, dream and rest let alone grow? I know they get a couple of hours' siesta in the afternoon, but they don't sleep in much in the mornings in school time. They're still up at a fairly normal time as parents still have to go to work and kids have to go to school.

But especially in the holidays (and they are almost THREE MONTHS LONG in the Summer in Spain!), they’re routinely up until one or two in the morning and often screaming and having tantrums or I’ve often witnessed children practically falling asleep at the dinner table having arrived around 9.30/10pm pretty much when all the extranjero (foreign) families are heading home!

They’re probably beside themselves with tiredness most of the time. And many Spanish parents don’t tell their kids to be quiet either, particularly if they’re boys. They simply look on with mild amusement as they scream and run riot all over the place, whereas I find myself wincing and developing a mild twitch.

I mean, when does a parent whose child is up to well after midnight a. sleep themselves, b. get to sit down and unwind with a glass of vino and c. deal with the presumably fractious results of continuous late nights?

So how much sleep do young children need to grow, rest and develop?

I found this article online penned by Dr. Stuart Crisp FRCPCH FRACP, consultant paediatrician, Orange Base Hospital, Orange, Australia. It’s a great base and covers all stages from newborns to school kids.

The most important advice of course is that if you're concerned about your child's sleeping habits, ask your GP or health visitor for advice.

Article by Stuart Crisp sourced on www.netdoctor.co.uk.

Sophie Cross is a public relations consultant and writer who has publicised and written about everything from makeup to The Muppets, child care to celebrity chefs and perfume to Partners in Population and Development! Originally from the UK and as a languages graduate she has worked around the world, living in Australia for the last 11 years where she runs, PR Chicks.

She is sometimes devoted wife of Stu and always devoted mother to Francesca and two cats, with whom she's embarked on her latest adventure, living and working remotely from their little piece of Spanish heaven in Chite, the Lecrin Valley, just south of Granada. And FYI it's pronounced "ch-ee-tay" not shite.