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Updated: Jun 19, 2026
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Measuring Neural Mechanisms Underlying Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation During Naps in Early Childhood
Published on: October 2, 2019
Normal sleep in children and adolescents.
Valerie McLaughlin Crabtree1, Natalie A Williams
1Department of Behavioral Medicine, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Mail Stop 101, Memphis, TN 38105, USA. valerie.crabtree@stjude.org
Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America
|October 20, 2009
Summary
Sleep duration and architecture change significantly from infancy to adolescence. These developmental changes in sleep patterns continue throughout life.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Chronobiology
Background:
- Sleep is crucial for healthy development in infants, children, and adolescents.
- Understanding normative sleep development is essential for identifying sleep disturbances.
- Both subjective and objective sleep measures are important for a comprehensive assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the normal developmental trajectory of sleep in young individuals.
- To highlight key changes in sleep duration, timing, and architecture.
- To emphasize the ongoing nature of sleep changes across the lifespan.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on infant, child, and adolescent sleep development.
- Analysis of subjective reports and objective sleep measurements.
- Synthesis of data on sleep duration, consolidation, and sleep stage changes.
Main Results:
- Significant decrease in total sleep duration from infancy through adolescence.
- Increased consolidation of sleep into the nighttime period.
- Developmental shifts in sleep architecture, including reduced slow-wave sleep and increased stage 2 sleep.
Conclusions:
- Sleep development is a dynamic process during early life.
- Sleep patterns undergo substantial changes in duration and architecture during childhood and adolescence.
- Sleep continues to evolve across the entire lifespan, not just in early development.
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