The Kid's Trial: A Sleep Study For Kids!

For children aged 7 to 12 years.

Your child will be asked to sleep for one week either with a comfort item (like a teddy or special blanket) or without one, and then we will email you to ask about your child’s sleep. Click the “Schedule a time to participate” button. This will actually just take you to our website to join the trial. Once you join the trial and provide us with your email address, you will find out which group your child will be assigned to. We will then email you at the end of the week to find out how your child slept!

Families who join are participating in STEP 3 of the trial; STEP 1 and STEP 2 are now closed. This step is the fun part, designed by other kids around the world!

We are interested in whether sleeping with a comfort item makes a difference to how well kids sleep! To figure this out, we are randomly putting some kids into a group that sleeps with a comfort item for a week and some that won't sleep with a comfort item for a week. We are studying this because kids around the world decided that this was the question they wanted to answer! The study has been designed BY kids FOR kids.

The trial is broken up into several steps. When you join the study, you are joining STEP 3. The Kid’s Trial helps kids understand how health research works, specifically, what randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are and why they matter. Every step of the trial, from the research question to the design and how we share the results, is being shaped by children.

This study supports children’s right to be involved in research that affects them and aims to build critical thinking and early health literacy. In a world where health misinformation is widespread, The Kid’s Trial offers a fun, safe, and meaningful way for children to engage with real science and become more informed, confident decision-makers.

Sleeping with or without a comfort item for 7 nights, and the parent then fills out a 15-minute survey about how well the child slept.

Participation is entirely voluntary and not financially compensated, but offers a chance to learn and contribute to meaningful research.