Peer-reviewed article

Early childhood sleep practices, patterns, and awareness of guidelines in Singaporean parents and children.

Lin W, Chiong YK, Liu M, Shah MAT, Yuen WY et al. · 13 May 2026

Abstract

Objective We aimed to describe sleep patterns and practices of young children and their parents in Singapore and examine predictors of child sleep duration to identify parental practices associated with better sleep outcomes in children. Study design This was a prospective, multi-centre, cross-sectional study conducted at local health care clinics in Singapore. Methods This study was conducted at local health care clinics in Singapore and included 500 parent-child pairs with newborns through 6-year-old children who had not yet begun formal schooling. Results While the average duration of sleep in children is at the lower end of recommendations, 24·5% of 6 to 12 month old children and 10·8% of 1 to 2 year old children do not get the minimum recommended hours a day. The majority of their parents also do not meet minimum recommended sleep durations. Important predictors of child sleep duration were the timing of bedtime, bedtime practices that do not foster independent sleep and the lack of accurate parental awareness of sleep guidelines in early childhood. Only 50% of children slept at 9 p.m. or earlier, 67% of parents utilized bedtime practices that did not foster independent sleep habits and only 34% of parents reported correct awareness of sleep durations appropriate for their child's age. Conclusion Accurate parental awareness of sleep guidelines and the practice of healthy sleep habits like earlier bedtimes and putting children to sleep independently were associated with better sleep outcomes in young children.