How We Help Children Thrive

The Problem

Getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis is not a given for all children. Challenges – including low family income, housing insecurity, and family instability – prevent many children from following a bedtime routine, feeling comfortable and secure at night, and getting the sleep they need. This can have a lasting, negative effect on children’s health, social and emotional well-being, and school performance. At Pajama Program, we believe that sleep is a social justice issue.

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Our Solution

Pajama Program provides children facing adversity with the materials, information, and support they need to have Good Nights for Good Days. Our programs and services deliver bedtime basics, sleep health education, and caring connections—three key components that support a comforting bedtime routine and healthy sleep. By investing in bedtime, we invest in children’s futures.

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Why Bedtime Routines?

Research shows that children who follow a bedtime routine are more likely to get the healthy sleep they need to thrive. A comforting bedtime routine helps children feel secure, provides simple steps to follow, promotes bonding, and helps children fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up refreshed and ready to meet the day ahead. Following a comforting bedtime routine and getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis paves the way for good health, emotional well-being, and school success.

Why Sleep?

Sleep is as important for children’s development as proper nutrition and exercise. Sleep helps children grow, build immunity, maintain a healthy weight, and regulate emotions and behavior. With a good night’s sleep, they are better equipped to learn, solve problems and build resilience and better relationships with their peers and caregivers.

Why Children Facing Adversity?

Every child has the right to a comforting bedtime routine, a good night’s sleep, and all the benefits that follow. But for children facing adversity and other challenges, following a routine can be especially difficult. The children we support often experience housing and family instability, are in shelters or foster care or live in low-income neighborhoods exposed to light and noise pollution, making access to a healthy sleep a social justice issue.

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“Not only are too many Americans not getting enough sleep, but the distribution of sufficient restorative sleep across the population favors those with more social and economic advantages.”
-Lauren Hale, PhD
Professor of Family, Population, & Preventative Medicine
SUNY Stonybrook
Good Night Advisory Council Member