I am a huge proponent of children getting as much sleep as they need. I really believe that many problems with children go back to sleep, diet, and activity (or lack of TV).
For parents with brand new babies, Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp is the greatest resource since the binky or swaddling blanket. Get the DVD because new parents are too tired to read or think, but they can sit and stare.
Another good book is Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. Most parents think they don’t need to do anything to help their babies sleep, but can’t figure out why they are not sleeping through the night after 1 or 2 years! There are techniques and totally logical approaches to getting your child to sleep like a champ, which of course allows you to sleep like a champ.
As an example, using these techniques we were able to get our son and daughter to sleep at least 6 hours straight by the time they were about 8 to 10 weeks old. It is not an accident or luck.
And if you need another reason besides your own sanity to get your child to sleep through the night, here is a study, reported in Science Daily, that links lack of early childhood sleep to obesity:
Children who sleep less are more likely to be overweight, study finds
The results show that young children who sleep less are at a significantly increased risk of having a higher BMI by age 7, even after controlling for other risk factors that have been implicated in body weight regulation.
Each additional hour of sleep per night at age 3 to 5 years was associated with a reduction in BMI of 0.49 and a 61% reduction in the risk of being overweight or obese at age 7.
In a child of average height, this corresponds to a difference of 0.7kg body weight. While this might seem minor at an individual level, the benefits for public health, if applied at the population level, are considerable, say the authors.
Start you kids on good sleep habits early. Don not leave it to chance. Your family will be happier and healthier for life!