The Benefit of Afternoon Nap for Your Little One

Beside eating and drinking, sleeping is a crucial need for your little one. Children who have afternoon nap have a faster rate of growth and development as compared to those who do not have afternoon nap. Generally, toddler need 12-24 hours of sleep every day. At the age of four years old, 50 percent of children has a regular afternoon nap. Entering the age of five years old, this habit starts to diminish. For them, playing is more interesting than sleeping, afternoon nap has tons of benefit, such as:

Support brain development

Afternoon nap for one hour can increase your little one’s brain activity. Therefore, afternoon nap can help in memory shaping and learning process. Visual  and spatial ability of your little one can increase after an afternoon nap. Kim West, MD a sleep coach from Annapolis, United States, and the author of ‘Gentle Proven Solutions to Help Your Child Sleep Well and Wake Up Happy’ stated that during sleeping, your little one can record everything that he has been learnt before. This will make it easier to retrieve that memory once they wake up.

Boost body growth

Kim West, MD also stated that growth and development of your little one can be optimized if he is used to have afternoon nap and a good night sleep. During sleeping, growth hormone is released.

Lack of sleep is linked with health problem. Study from Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, stated that children from the age of five who do not have a good sleep during the night are at increased risk of obesity and can lead to another problem like obesity.

Mental Status Stability

Children who have regular afternoon nap has a more stable mental state. They tend to be calm, do not get fussy easily, and have the ability to solve problem easily.

Resting your body

Afternoon nap will put your little one’s organs into resting phase after a day filled with activity.

So, after knowing the importance of afternoon nap for your children’s growth and development, you better allocate some time for an afternoon nap, especially for children aged three to five years old.