A child sleep expert has issued some advice to parents who aren't sure how much sleep their little ones should be getting on a nightly basis.
One of the most challenging parts of being a parent is making sure your children are getting enough sleep so that they're ready for the day. And if their sleep schedule isn't the best, it affects yours too, making the whole family more tired.
But getting into a good routine is so important, as this is what children "thrive" off. To help parents who are struggling, sleep guru Jennifer Robinson has told the Mirror everything about nailing the bedtime rules - including the exact amount of time little ones should be asleep.
Jennifer, also known as The Happy Sleep Coach, is a mum-of-two herself and mostly works with children between the ages of 18 weeks and seven years old.
She encourages her clients to try and follow a seven-to-seven sleep routine wherever possible, as it's the ideal amount of time that youngsters should be asleep.
"So a 7pm bedtime and a 7am wake up is what we would aim for," Jennifer told The Mirror.
Obviously this may not be possible for every child, so you can move the bedtime further forward if needed by an hour or so.
She said: "If you find your child is waking before six or seven o'clock in the morning then we would bring the bedtime forward to counteract that.
"We generally say 12 hours awake and 12 hours asleep for a child who is nine months old and that carries on all the way until they are at least seven years old.
"Before nine months bedtimes can vary significantly as it would depend on the baby's daytime sleep and how late their last nap was."
The expert continued: "Children get so tired, especially when starting nursery and school as the new environments are so stimulating for them, but how tired they are will also depend on how much sleep they've had during the day from naps.
"A lot of children start dropping naps when they go to nursery at the age of three and we often start seeing night wakes or early rising at that point.
"The loss of the nap, coupled with the super stimulating environment they're in during the day, running around getting very tired, can see children getting themselves into an overtired cycle.
"A sign of this may be that your child is falling asleep really easily in the car on the way home as they're so tired."
Instead of extending the bedtime if your child has fallen asleep during the day, you should actually be putting them to bed earlier as any later will just keep them more over-tired.
If your child is waking up before 7am every morning, you might think about making their bedtime later - but in fact the opposite is true and they need to be going to sleep earlier.
Jennifer explained: "While the aim is seven until seven and that's what I tell my clients, some children just don't sleep until 7am every day, but as long as they are getting their fill of sleep overnight and the right amount of sleep for their age, it's ok.
"Most parents don't want their kids going to bed at eight or nine o'clock at night, as they might want to eat after they're asleep and have some 'me time'. It might sound selfish, but parents need to be the best versions of themselves to be the best parents they can be and if they're tired and haven't had time to wash their hair or make dinner, they're not going to be in the right frame of mind."
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