How scientists have just made a telling intervention in parent-child bedtime wars

Children who sleep longer are better at solving problems and even have bigger brains, according to a new study

The struggle between parents and their children about that most important family issue – bedtime – is an age-old one. Many a youngster has declared “I’m not tired, I’m not tired” shortly before falling asleep on the couch.

But now, scientists have produced evidence to bolster the arguments of parents keen to get their kids tucked up in bed at a decent time.

Researchers from Cambridge and Shanghai found that children who sleep for an average of seven hours, 25 minutes were better at problem-solving and other cognitive tests than those who slept for seven hours, 10 minutes. The longer-sleepers even had bigger brains.

Just like Teddy, young growing bodies and minds need their sleep (Picture: Tim Graham) | Tim Graham/Getty Images

So the next time young Jemima and Jimmy are agitating to stay up a bit longer, their parents can say, “now now, none of that nonsense, do you really want to have a tiny brain?”

Of course, it does work both ways. Jimmy and Jemima’s repeated requests for “five minutes more” in bed in the morning will be harder to resist. Parents fond of loudly proclaiming it’s time to “rise and shine” may now have to quite literally tip-toe around the subject.