It’s a new school year with the same challenge: helping your child get a good night’s sleep. Summertime inevitably disrupts the school year bedtime ritual. Helping your child gradually adjust to an earlier bedtime is important: according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), children between 6-12 years of age need 9-12 hours of sleep, and that number decreases slightly for teens 13-17 who should get 8-10 hours of sleep each night.
The Number One Tip for a good night's sleep
One of the most important things you can do to help your child get a good night’s sleep is to limit their screen time before bed. Just as many schools are now starting to ban smartphones in the classroom because of the distraction they cause, smartphones have proven to also be disruptive to the bedtime sleep cycle. According to the Journal of Adolescent Health, “Adolescents who left their phone ringer activated overnight had greater odds of experiencing sleep disturbance and experienced shorter sleep duration one year later, compared to those who turned off their phones at bedtime.”
A good rule of thumb is to stop all screen time at least an hour before bedtime to help your body know it’s time for bed. If you can stop all screen time for longer than that, all the better. As parents, it’s important that we also set a good example by doing the same. Keeping all electronic screens and devices out of the bedroom is key to helping everyone get a good night’s sleep.
Additional Tips
If you live in a neighborhood with a lot of outside lights, consider getting black out curtains for your child’s room.
Keep bedrooms cool at night. Run a fan for air circulation and white noise.
Don’t allow TV’s or any other electronics in your child’s room.
Consider a “family wind-down time” when all electronics go off at least an hour before bed for everyone in the house. Kids watch what you do, not what you say.
School aged children do best when they have a regular bedtime and wake time, even on the weekends.