Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has issued to parents on recommended amounts of sleep for children.

Jane Ellison

NHS Choices provides guidance for parents on the amounts of sleep for children at different ages as well as advice and support for parents and children about sleep hygiene. There is no national guidance on evidence-based recommended sleep duration for children because of the significant variation between children and the focus of advice to parents is on good bedtime routines and how to prevent and respond to common sleep problems.

The Start4Life Information Service for Parents includes advice on how to ease babies into good sleeping habits and dealing with common sleep problems. Content for the service is regularly updated and Public Health England (PHE) will continue to address the issue of sleep in children under five via the Start4Life Information Service for Parents.

PHE has also developed specific advice resources on sleep issues for children and young people with the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the MindEd programme.