Although attention has been a topic in cognitive and developmental psychology since the mid- 20th century, much is still unknown with respect to the underlying neural differences in developmental attentional trajectories, including the link between differences observed at behavioural and neurophysiological levels. One relatively new emerging method of measuring atypical attention in children is functional near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Previously, reviews of NIRS in child development have included a wide range of developmental functions, from language acquisition to facial processing and joint attention. However, no such review has focused on the use of NIRS solely for measuring attention. The purpose of this systematic review was to provide an up-to-date synthesis of the findings.  It investigated the evidence for functional differences in attention with a specific focus on the overlap between behavioural and NIRS measures, as well as the corresponding theoretical basis and behavioural implications. A search for peer-reviewed articles was carried out in multiple databases, with thirteen studies included in the analysis. Generally, NIRS shows preliminary evidence for differences in attention for certain attentional dimensions such as response inhibition, but more research is needed to confirm differences in other dimensions such as working memory or attentional control. Behavioural measures are not always reported and only occasionally mapped on to NIRS results. Few studies include a theoretical basis of attention or the behavioural implications of the findings. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.