The late nights and relaxing mornings of summer have come to an end and will soon be replaced by early morning wake-ups for school. Being deprived of even a half hour of sleep can have a big impact on your child’s health. A good night’s sleep (8-12 hours) will not only keep your child healthy, but it will also lead to success in the classroom.
Here are some tips to help your child get their sleep schedule back on track for school:
Take technology out of the picture
It’s hard to fall asleep when being distracted by our phones, TVs, computers, etc. To help your child fall asleep earlier, limit the use of technology close to bedtime. Put a sleep timer on the TV for thirty minutes to an hour. This will allow your child to watch TV, but not stay up for hours. Also, if your child has a cell phone, turn it off or take it out of their room at bedtime. The rings from text messages and social media will only keep your children awake and interrupt their sleep.
Gradually make bedtime earlier
Waiting until the night before the first day of school to change your children’s bedtime will not successfully adjust their sleep schedule. In order to smoothly transition into a healthy sleep schedule for school, start changing your child’s bedtime 2-3 weeks in advance. Try moving bedtime up 10-20 minutes earlier each day until your children have successfully adjusted to a sleep schedule where they’re getting the proper amount of sleep (ages 2-5: 10-13 hours per day; ages 6-12: 9-12 hours per day; ages 13-18: 8-10 hours per day).
Exercise in the afternoon
Running around and exercising is important for your children. When scheduling physical activities keep them for the afternoon so your child will fall asleep easier.
Be consistent
Usually, weekends are similar to summer days. Children like to stay up late and sleep in. If you’re trying to adjust your child’s sleep schedule for school, allowing them to stay up late and sleep in on the weekends will not help. Try to maintain a consistent sleep schedule to ensure that your child is ready to go back to school.
Going back to school can be a really exciting time, however, it’s also a big transition for your children. In order to make the transition from summer go smoothly, start creating a sleep schedule to ensure your children begin the school year on the right foot!
