According to research presented at the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, children that get adequate sleep score higher on a range of developmental assessments. The researchers emphasized that having a regular bedtime was the most consistent predictor of positive developmental outcomes at 4 years of age.

Scores for receptive and expressive language skills, awareness of sound-word structure, literacy and early math abilities were higher in children whose parents maintained rules about going to bed at a prescribed time. Having an earlier bedtime further supported higher scores for most developmental measures.

The study involved a nationally representative sample of approximately 8,000 children that completed a direct assessment at 4 years of age. They were part of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort.