Photo: Raúl A., Flickr

So, sleep is important. You need it, your kids need it, your babies need it. Yet none of us gets enough of it. The funny thing is, we tend to obsess over how much our infants get, and then once the wee ones make it to preschool age, we drop the ball, letting them stay up later and later. And watch out on weekends, when late-nighters are no-brainers.

Turns out even minimal amounts of sleep deprivation — like one hour per night — can leave our childrens’ brains a little less developed than they should be. Too little sleep can make our sixth graders think like fourth-graders, and our tweens’ moods can become even more exaggerated after losing some shut-eye. Yikes!

It’s all very interesting, this sleep stuff, and that’s why author Po Bronson writes about “the lost hour” in his book NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children. You should grab your self a copy, or borrow one from your library. That’s what I did, and I’m making my way through the book right now. Good stuff. I promise.