Tips to get your child’s sleep pattern under control before school starts
If you haven’t even started thinking about sleep schedules for school, don’t worry, you still have time. But experts say the sooner you start, the easier the transition will be. FOX 29’s Cheyenne Corin has the scoop.
PHILADELPHIA – It’s almost time to get your children back into their sleep routine before the school year starts.
If you haven’t even started thinking about sleep schedules for school, don’t worry, you still have time. However, experts say the sooner you start, the easier the transition will be.
“Do you feel ready for the school year yet?” FOX 29’s Cheyenne Corrin asked Delaware middle school student Bryce Lancaster.
“I need some more time, about three months,” Lancaster replied.
Most children only have two weeks left before they have to go back to school.
“I’m going to plan this weekend to get them back into that routine because we had to come here early this morning and they were dragging their feet and I said next week is it, buddy,” said Erline Lancaster of Middletown, Delaware.
Dr. Christopher Cielo, director of the Sleep Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, says younger children typically need 10 to 12 hours of sleep and teenagers need 8 to 10 hours.
“Sometimes parents make the mistake of trying to start the wake-up routine much earlier than the kids need to wake up, thinking we’re letting them snooze for an hour, but that can actually be counterproductive,” said Dr. Christopher Cielo, director of Chop’s Sleep Center and a pulmonologist.
To get your kids’ sleep schedule back under control for the school year, experts recommend gradually moving bedtimes and wake-up times forward, maintaining a short, consistent routine, and taking away electronic devices 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime.
“It’s something you can keep working on and it doesn’t necessarily have to be perfect on the first day,” explains Dr. Cielo.
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“I just like it when it’s completely dark. I think that helps me a lot, and I don’t really like noise,” said Henry Nogales.
Brenda Nogales says she wants to start getting her boys back on schedule this weekend.
“They go to bed after midnight and last night we were down at the beach some days and everyone went to bed around 12. So it’s going to be hard to get back into that routine,” said Brenda Nogales of Fox Chase.
“I just get back into the routine, and after each year, it’s almost like muscle memory. You just get back into it and you’re fine,” Sebastian Nogales said.
