In the few weeks leading up to the new school year, parents and children need to do more than shop for school supplies and new fall outfits. They also need to begin readjusting their sleep schedules. Because of late camp start-times, vacations and warm nights where the sun doesn't set until shortly before young children's bedtimes, families tend to follow later, and looser, sleep schedules during the summer.
Below, Jodi Mindell, PhD, a professor of psychology at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, and Daniel Lewin, PhD, the associate director of the Pediatric Behavioral Medicine Program at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, offer advice on easing into a
back-to-school sleep schedule.
How does the sleep routine change for families during the summer months?
JODI MINDELL, PhD: Typically, during the summer, you find that everyone shifts later. Children often attend day camp, and, typically, camps start about an hour later than the usual school day. Everyone's outside during the summer in the evening, so they're staying up later than usual. Teenagers who may not have a schedule during the summer are definitely shifting. They're now staying up to midnight, 1 am and sleeping in to 10 or 11, because they don't have to get up for school.
DANIEL LEWIN, PhD: Parents should give their kids some leeway to relax, to sleep on a more relaxed schedule during the summer. They tend to have later wake-up times, both on the weekends and weekdays. And when families are on vacation, sleep times are much more flexible.
How does traveling during the summer affect sleep patterns?
JODI MINDELL, PhD: Traveling during the summer has benefits. You can sleep in, you can go to sleep later, and all of that sort of feels wonderful. And if you're changing time zones, going to Europe, going to Asia, you're going to find a huge internal shift. It's going to be very difficult to fall asleep on time and sleep well through the night and wake in the morning when you get back. So families may have a very difficult time getting back to a school schedule if they've just come home from a long trip. If you're changing one hour, it may not have much of an impact.
How much sleep do kids need?
DANIEL LEWIN, PhD: A 6-year-old should be sleeping between 10 1/2 and 11 1/2 hours a night, and it decreases gradually over time, up to adolescence, where an adolescent will really need to sleep nine or nine-and-a-half hours a night. In reality, they're getting far less than that, but that amount of sleep is very important.
When should you start shifting the schedule back?
JODI MINDELL, PhD: What you want to do with children is to start getting them on a school schedule at least a week or two in advance. So don't take that trip to Europe that you're going to come back the day before school starts. Or don't take that long car drive for 10 hours to get back for school.
What else can affect the ability to fall asleep?
DANIEL LEWIN, PhD: With every child, there are going to be worries or there's going to be excessive excitement in anticipation of going back to school. A very anxious child may start anticipating the return to school two weeks ahead of time. Start to get nervous, start to get over-activated. And nighttime, lying in bed at night, may be one of the key times that that child will ruminate about "What is school going to be like? Will I have as many friends? Will my teacher be nice?" So attending early on to the child's concerns about school is key. Preparing the child, talking to them about school, trying to help bring out what the problems might be can be very helpful for the child and ease the child's transition.
There's no doubt but that the child's sleep is likely to deteriorate certainly the night before the first day of school and maybe for the next two to three nights; that's natural. So that's why establishing a regular sleep-wake schedule in the week or two ahead of time will help the child get to the point where they're very well-rested, so that a little bit of sleep deprivation and disturbance leading right into school will be a little bit less of a problem.
What is a good sleep plan for back-to-school?
JODI MINDELL, PhD: A regular bedtime is key to it all. We have very strong internal clocks, and you're going to sleep best if you go to sleep at the same time every night, if you wake up at the same time every morning. A bedtime routine is as important for a 2-year-old as it is for a 12-year-old as important as for a 35-year-old.
DANIEL LEWIN, PhD: Bedtime routines and regularity in those routines are very important. After dinner, the child may have a short period of playtime, for example. After the playtime, a bath, for most children between 6 and 10 years of age, can be relaxing and can be a positive playtime. On the other hand, for some children, particularly 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-year-olds, bath time can be very activating and can make them a little bit hyper and more active. So parents should gauge carefully what will help their child come down and relax a bit.
The routine can vary, although the one recommendation that we have that's very important is cutting out television and movies within an hour-and a half to two hours of bedtime, cutting out Internet access and video games within an hour-and-a-half to two hours of bedtime. Those can all have a negative impact because they're very activating.
Reading together prior to bedtime is a wonderful activity. Intimacy and closeness is good, and reading is a quiet, focused activity.
What are the consequences of sleep deprivation in children?
JODI MINDELL, PhD: First of all, we know it affects children's mood. They're cranky. It also affects how well they can regulate their mood, so they may get more frustrated than usual or they may start laughing so hard, they can't control it.
It affects their cognitive abilities, memory, decision-making, creativity, all the things they need for good academic performance. We know it affects their behavior. They are much more likely to get overtired, where they're zipping around the room. They are much more likely to look like they're hyperactive.
What are signs that your child has a sleep problem?
DANIEL LEWIN, PhD: There are signs of insufficient sleep that parents can pay attention to, both during the summer and the school year. A child being very difficult to wake in the morning is an indication that they're not getting enough sleep at night. A child who really gets very activated prior to bedtime and is out of control can indicate that that child is overtired and is not making an easy transition from wake to sleep.
If the parent cannot modify the child's sleep schedule or help a child fall asleep independently for a long enough period of time, then the parent may need some help from a sleep specialist to help modify some aspects of the child's behavior: the timing of their sleep and other factors.
It's also important to rule out other sleep disorders that can cause sleep-wake transition problems. For example, obstructive sleep apnea: Any child who snores requires some further assessment as snoring can be the first sign of apnea, which can cause a whole range of sleep problems and daytime behavior problems. Increasingly, restless leg syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder are also important causes of sleep disruption during the night in children and can cause disruptions in daytime behavior.
How can parents serve as sleep role models?
DANIEL LEWIN, PhD: Modeling optimal
sleep behavior can start with the parents. So if they establish that the bedroom should be a quiet place, a place for rest and relaxation, that will also help the child learn that their bedroom is also a place for quiet and rest and relaxation. Watching television in bed together, lots of stimulation in the parents' bedroom can set the stage for bedtime being an overly exciting time.
RELATED PROGRAMS
