What does "sleeping like a baby" really mean? A look at sleep in the first 13 years

Sleep deprivation is the one thing that every parent experiences at one point or another while raising children, but just how much sleep you lose seems to vary from child to child. Some babies are just good sleepers right from birth, putting themselves to sleep in their cots from early on, while others continue fighting bedtime right into the teen years. As a mom to a toddler in the latter mentioned group, each night can feel like an eternity. Dr Iqbal Karbaani, a Johannesburg based Paediatrician says the reason for sleep disturbances in babies and children are varied. “Sleep is a complex interplay between many factors. These include medical, social, psychological and environmental issues that all contribute in various ways. In addition, the setting is a child that is growing and developing and whose body is in a dynamic changing state. What this means is that the amount of sleep required by the individual child is very variable and changes dramatically in the first few years of life. The early period of life in babies and toddlers is particularly challenging. A holistic understanding of sleep is required for parents to be able to cope with the challenges they face.