As summer vacation draws to an end, it’s important to help children re-establish a healthy back-to-school sleep schedule.
Children need more sleep than adults. Children ages 5 to 12 require 10 to 11 hours of sleep each night, while teens should have at least nine hours.
Chronic sleep deprivation has many serious consequences, including poor school performance. Lack of sleep also can be linked to behavioral, developmental and mood problems in children. Drowsy teens who get behind the wheel of a car can suffer even more dire consequences.
Despite these facts, the National Sleep Foundation has found that only 20 percent of adolescents get enough sleep.
Parents can help children adjust their sleep patterns for the upcoming school year by following these guidelines:
- At least two to three weeks before school starts, set a bedtime and wake-up time. Children with bedtimes before 10 p.m. are much more likely to get enough sleep than children with later bedtimes. If necessary, the schedule can be adjusted at a gradual pace (about 15 minutes every two days) to ease the transition.
- In the last days of summer, wake your children early. Emphasize activity and bright light in the morning. For example, send them outside to play, rather than allowing them to watch TV.
- Be consistent with your children’s sleep schedules, even if they don’t have school the next day.
- Establish a relaxing evening routine. Avoid exercise or stimulating activities in the last few hours before bedtime.
- Create a sleep environment that is cool, dark, quiet and comfortable.
- Limit caffeine, especially after lunchtime.
- Avoid having a TV or computer in the bedroom.
- Make sleep a priority and set a good example.
Back to school means early to bed
FAST FACT: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates
that drowsy driving causes at least 100,000 police-reported crashes and
kills more than 1,550 Americans each year.
Nan Norins, MD, is a pediatric sleep specialist at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and an assistant professor of Pediatrics (Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine) at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The Sleep Center at Children’s Hospital offers a full range of diagnostic and treatment services, including the state’s only pediatric sleep laboratory accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.