I WAS not surprised to learn that many young children in Singapore are not getting adequate sleep ("Many parents 'not alert to child's lack of sleep'"; Feb 6).
What surprised me was that parents were not aware of the sleeping needs of their children.
It is common knowledge that pre-school and primary school children need a minimum of nine to 11 hours of sleep every day.
The younger the child, the more sleep he requires. In countries such as Australia, the UK and the US, parents are encouraged to put their kids to bed by 7pm to 8pm based on a 12-hour day cycle for the children.
Expatriate families I know in Singapore still try to stick to this golden rule.
As a working mum of two young pre-schoolers, I know the difficulties in persevering with a bedtime routine and ensuring that the children get enough sleep.
There are structural limitations in Singapore, such as a demanding work culture that prevents parents from leaving work early or on time, an early start time at primary schools, and so on.
My friends who are parents say they have to wake up before 6am every morning in order to get their children to school on time - I am not looking forward to my older son's starting primary school in a year's time.
Can the Ministry of Education support parents in this "sleep-deprivation battle" by switching all primary schools to morning sessions and pushing back the start time to around 8am?
The extra sleep in the morning will go a long way towards helping a child's development and physical well-being.
Lee Chen Chen (Madam)
What surprised me was that parents were not aware of the sleeping needs of their children.
It is common knowledge that pre-school and primary school children need a minimum of nine to 11 hours of sleep every day.
The younger the child, the more sleep he requires. In countries such as Australia, the UK and the US, parents are encouraged to put their kids to bed by 7pm to 8pm based on a 12-hour day cycle for the children.
Expatriate families I know in Singapore still try to stick to this golden rule.
As a working mum of two young pre-schoolers, I know the difficulties in persevering with a bedtime routine and ensuring that the children get enough sleep.
There are structural limitations in Singapore, such as a demanding work culture that prevents parents from leaving work early or on time, an early start time at primary schools, and so on.
My friends who are parents say they have to wake up before 6am every morning in order to get their children to school on time - I am not looking forward to my older son's starting primary school in a year's time.
Can the Ministry of Education support parents in this "sleep-deprivation battle" by switching all primary schools to morning sessions and pushing back the start time to around 8am?
The extra sleep in the morning will go a long way towards helping a child's development and physical well-being.
Lee Chen Chen (Madam)
