Most kids don’t get enough sleep. Here’s why parents often miss the signs.

You tuck them in, turn off the light and assume they drift off within minutes. Many parents do. But a 2025 study published in Frontiers in Pediatrics suggests that what happens after the bedroom door closes may look very different from what parents imagine.

In the study, researchers tracked the sleep of more than 100 elementary school-age kids using wrist-worn devices for a week. While 83% of parents believed their child was getting enough sleep, only 14% of kids met national sleep guidelines. Children ages 6 to 12 need nine to 12 hours per night, but the kids in the study averaged about eight hours.

The gap between what parents reported and what the tracking data showed came down to two things: how long it took kids to fall asleep after lights out and how often they woke during the night. Parents guessed under five minutes, but the devices recorded 38 — in other words, many kids are lying awake in the dark longer than parents realize.

“It is difficult to determine the exact timing of sleep onset, and it can be more challenging if you are not in the room,” Dr. Dayna Johnson, associate professor of epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “If they wake during the night, the caregiver is often unaware.”

Poor sleep leads to more than just crankiness

A cranky kid after a bad night’s sleep is bad enough. But the effects of consistent, chronic sleep loss go far beyond mood.

“Chronic sleep loss can affect performance, particularly academic performance,” Johnson said. “It can also affect health, mental and physical.”

Research has linked poor sleep in kids to higher rates of anxiety and depression, more stress, a greater risk of obesity and more hyperactivity and impulsive behavior.

Sleep also does a lot of heavy lifting for brain development. During deep sleep, the brain consolidates memories, restores its ability to learn and processes emotions. Cut that short night after night, and what looks like a behavior problem may really just be a tired kid.

Teenagers face a particular challenge, according to Johnson. During adolescence, the brain goes through a biological shift that naturally pushes the sleep-wake cycle later. Your teen isn’t being moody about going to bed; their bodies just aren’t ready for sleep at 9 p.m. Yet most high schools start before 8 a.m., meaning millions of teenagers are chronically sleep-deprived during one of the most critical periods of brain development.

Skip the melatonin

When a child struggles to fall asleep, melatonin is often the first thing parents reach for. It’s sold everywhere, and it seems harmless, but most pediatric sleep experts advise against making it a nightly habit, especially for younger children.

Melatonin is a hormone, not a supplement. It’s produced naturally by the brain to signal that it’s time to sleep. In children, that system is still developing. Regular use of melatonin can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate the process on its own. It can also cause side effects like headaches, grogginess the next morning and vivid dreams, and there’s very little long-term research on what it does to a developing brain over time.

The best approach, according to sleep specialists, is to address the environment and habits first.

Tips for better sleep

Screen time gets most of the blame for kids not sleeping. And yes, blue light before bed doesn’t help. But Johnson says there are a lot of other things quietly getting in the way that parents don’t always think about.

Room temperature is a big one. A bedroom that’s too warm makes it harder to fall and stay asleep, for kids and adults alike. Household noise, light coming in from the window or hallway, sharing a room with a sibling and even low-grade stress or anxiety can all chip away at sleep quality.

The good news is that fixes aren’t complicated. Keeping the same bedtime and wake-up time every day, including weekends, is one of the most effective things you can do. Irregular sleep schedules disrupt the body’s internal clock the same way jet lag does.

What you do in the morning matters just as much.

“In the morning, be sure to get bright light, which can help the circadian system, our internal clock, which regulates our sleep and other activities such as eating,” Johnson said. Even 10 to 15 minutes outside after waking up can make a real difference in how easily kids fall asleep that night.

A solid wind-down routine is the other key piece. The brain needs time to shift out of the day, so a bath, quiet reading or low-stimulation play in the 30 to 60 minutes before bed can go a long way. And if you tend to keep the house warm, consider making an exception in the bedroom. Most sleep researchers say the sweet spot is between 65 and 68 degrees.

For many families, better sleep won’t come from a quick fix. Instead, it comes from small, consistent routines that finally allow the restful sleep children — and parents — have been hoping for.

A few essentials to get their best sleep started

Getting the environment right doesn’t require a total bedroom overhaul. A few targeted changes can make a big difference in how easily kids fall asleep and stay asleep.

Blackout curtains: Sleepout Portable Blackout Curtains are worth considering if light is an issue, which it often is for kids in homes where streetlights or early-morning sun creep in.

Magnesium lotion: Roots and Leaves Magnesium Body Butter and 8Sheep’s Juniors Bedtime Lotion are great choices to add to their bedtime routines. Magnesium supports muscle relaxation and the body’s natural sleep process, and applying it to the soles of the feet about 30 minutes before bed can be a calming addition to wind-down time. As with any supplement, check with your pediatrician first, especially for younger kids.