Sleep and rest

The things people tell us about babies, toddlers, and children's sleep are as many, varied, and diverse as we all are. 

If they sleep through the day they won't sleep at night.  

More sleep begets more sleep.  

You need to follow eat-play-sleep.  

You need to dream feed.  

You need to put them down drowsy, not asleep 

You need to put them down wide awake 

They need total darkness... or white noise... or a weighted blanket... or fresh air... or a humidifier... 

It can feel nearly impossible to get it right. But here's the thing, while there are some things that genuinely support sleep, there is no single right or wrong. Every child's sleep is as individual as your own. Some of us are hot sleepers with one leg perpetually escaping the blanket. Others sleep beneath five doonas piled high, and both are perfectly okay. 

When we work with children and young people, we often find ourselves holding a tension between what families ask for, what service policies require, what research invites us to consider, and what children are showing us they need. The National Quality Framework asks us to value and draw on the knowledge of families, while also providing opportunities for sleep, rest and relaxation that respond to each child’s individual needs (ACECQA, 2023). Holding both of these together, family partnership and responsive, evidence-informed practice, is one of the more nuanced and relational parts of our work. 

So, with curiosity, here are some things worth reflecting on. 

Does this child actually need to sleep right now? 

This might feel like a strange question, but it is a genuinely important one, and asking it is an act of respect for the child in front of you. 

The amount of sleep children need changes significantly across their early years. Children’s sleep needs gradually decrease as they grow, with guidelines stating: 

• Newborns need 14–17 hours across every 24 hours 

• Babies 3–6 months need around 12–15 hours 

• Toddlers (1–3 years) need 11–14 hours, which will typically include a 10–12 hour night sleep and a 1–2 hour daytime nap 

• Preschoolers (3–5 years) need 10–13 hours, and many no longer need a daytime nap once they are getting adequate overnight sleep 

• School-age children (5–11 years) need 9–11 hours and rarely nap during the day (Raising Children Network, 2023): 

When we pause and ask: Does this child actually need to sleep right now? We are not dismissing the value of rest. We are becoming curious about what this particular child, at this particular moment, might need. If a child is consistently getting enough sleep overnight, and we are still asking them to lie still each day, we might be responding to routine rather than need. We might also be missing opportunities to support their growing need for autonomy, movement, and mastery. 

Rest is important, but meaningful rest is usually something the body moves toward, not something it is required to perform. 

Our bodies follow a circadian rhythm, a 24-hour cycle shaped largely by light exposure. Light acts as a key signal that helps the body understand when to be alert and when to prepare for rest (Kok et al., 2024). In early childhood, these rhythms are still developing, and they are highly responsive to the environment around them. 

So what can we do to support children’s circadian rhythm to support sleep and rest? 

Natural Light 

Natural light during the day helps support wakefulness and regulation. In contrast, exposure to artificial light can delay the body’s readiness for sleep by suppressing melatonin production, a hormone that assists in sleep onset and maintenance (Sleep Foundation, 2025). Children are especially sensitive to these effects, meaning relatively small changes in light exposure can shape how ready their bodies feel for sleep. In practice, this might look like soft natural light filtering through open windows rather than block-out blinds. It might mean gentle ambient lighting rather than all lights off. It does not need to be bright direct sunlight leaving us squinting in the brightness, but it does need to be honest. 

When we turn off all the lights, close the blinds so the room is dark, play music loudly enough to drown out all sounds of daytime life outside, tuck children under warm sheets, and gently but repeatedly encourage them to close their eyes, their bodies may rest... But not necessarily because they need it. It may be boredom-induced stillness. Or, in a very real physiological sense, we may have quietly tricked their body into believing it is night-time. Then what happens when actual night-time arrives a few hours later? Their body is bouncing; ready to play, because as far as their circadian system is concerned, it only just woke up. 

Fresh air 

Ventilation and fresh air are regulatory requirements, but they are also circadian cues. The sounds of daytime life drifting in through an open window with natural airflow, and subtle shifts in temperature, all help a child's body remain oriented to where it is in the day. Whereas, a rest environment that is sealed, silent, and artificially darkened strips those cues away. 

Spend time outdoors 

Natural light exposure during waking hours is one of the most powerful supports for healthy sleep. In fact, daytime light exposure significantly predicts stronger circadian rhythm activity in young children with natural light outdoors early in the morning, holding the strongest impact (Estevan et al., 2023; Kok et al., 2025; Ricketts et al., 2022). 

Relaxing videos at sleep time? 

Blue light, fluorescent lights and artificial lights suppress melatonin and signal to the brain to stay awake (Ricketts et al., 2022; Sleep Foundation, 2024). In ECEC, being thoughtful about screen use in the hour or so before rest time gives children's bodies the clearest possible runway toward genuine tiredness rather than a system still buzzing with blue-light stimulation. So be cautious of that restful video sometimes used to bring the children down at rest time. 

Physical activity 

Physical activity in any form, from walking and stretching, right through to sprinting, climbing and jumping have been found to improve deep sleep quality (Ramírez-Espejo et al., 2025). Deep sleep is the sleep that supports growth, immunity, memory consolidation, and emotional regulation (Raising Children Network, 2023). So when we prioritise genuine, embodied, outdoor play throughout the day it fills children’s Cups, meets their needs, supports rich learning opportunities, but also supports children’s sleep patterns. 

The timing of physical activity is also important with physical activity first thing in the morning associated with earlier and longer sleep (Estevan et al., 2023). So, consider your daily flow. Do we encourage outdoor and physically active play at the beginning of the day, or is it something that only occurs at a specific time-point? 

When we support children's circadian rhythms; through light, movement, outdoor time, reduced screens, and environments that are true to the time of day, we are supporting growth, immunity, emotional regulation, cognitive development, and a felt sense of physical wellbeing that comes from a body that knows it’s place in time.