Abstract: Objective To evaluate the relationship between epilepsy and sleep macrostructure in children.Methods Totally 31 children with idiopathic epilepsy aged 6-13 (mean 9.5) years were enrolled in this study, including 18 with idiopathic focal epilepsy and 13 with idiopathic generalized epilepsy. Sixteen age-and gender-matched children were also included as the control group. Polysomnogram (PSG) was recorded in all the children for analysis.Results Children with idiopathic partial epilepsy had increased total recording time (P<0.05) and those with idiopathic generalized epilepsy exhibited reduced non-rapid eye movement sleep in comparison with the control group. The efficiency of the different phases in the total sleep was also lowered in children with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (P<0.05), whose total sleep time had also been significantly reduced (P<0.05).Conclusions Significant changes occur in the sleep macrostrcture of children with idiopathic epilepsy. Children with idiopathic generalized epilepsy presents poorer sleep quality, whereas those with idiopathic partial epilepsy tend to require excessive time for sleep.