UK researchers say basic patient care has been forgotten with hospital wards so noisy sick children are not getting enough sleep which can hamper their recovery, reduce pain tolerance and affect behaviour.
The small study compared the amount of sleep 40 children and 16 mothers were able to get at the Southampton Children's Hospital in England as opposed to what they received at home.
It found children got 63 fewer minutes of sleep per night while in hospital, averaging less than seven-and-a-half hours in total, while mums slept for 73 fewer minutes averaging six hours and 20 minutes sleep per night.
It also found sound levels in children's wards at night was 48.24 decibels, rising to 50.35 decibels for open bay beds.
This level exceeds World Health Organisation guidelines which recommends average maximum hospital ward noise of 30 decibels, peaking at 45 decibels. Background noise in a child's bedroom is around 34.7 decibels.
"Despite 150 years of medical progress we have forgotten the basic lessons of patient care," the researchers wrote.
"Sleep is one aspect of care that can be freely delivered and future research should evaluate interventions which promote sleep for children and parents alike."
The added that the importance of sleep was exemplified by Florence Nightingale, who wrote in 1859: "Unnecessary noise is the cruellest absence of care."
The study has been published in the journal Archive of Disease in Childhood.
