The normal amount of sleep varies depending on the age of your child. A 2-year-old needs 10 to 12 hours a night, plus naps during the day. By age 6, a child usually has dropped naps, but still needs 10 hours at night.

Newborns sleep much of the time, but their sleep is in very short segments. As a baby grows, the total amount of sleep gradually decreases, but the length of nighttime sleep increases.

A night terror is a partial waking from sleep with behaviors such as screaming, kicking, panic, sleep walking, thrashing, or mumbling.

Without enough shut-eye, children are more likely to struggle with their school studies, do poorly on the playing field, and suffer depression.