What are the benefits of sleep for children?

What are the benefits of sleep for children?

Gary Feldman (Medical Director, Stramski Disorders Center, Miller Children's Hospital ) gives expert video advice on: What are the benefits of sleep for children?; What is a normal sleep pattern?; How much sleep does my child need every day? and more...

For children, sleep is important because that's when your brain does a lot of growing and when a lot of your neural connections take place. Sleep is important for daytime functioning too. It affects your mood. It affects your executive functioning and how you organize your life and how you make decisions. In children, sleep is also necessary for physical growth because there's a hormone that's released particularly during sleep, and lack of sleep can impact the release of growth hormone.