Getting Child's Sleep Schedule Back on Track for School

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CLEVELAND - The new school year is just around the corner.

If your kids have been staying up late this summer, now is a good time to get their sleep schedules back on track. 

“In the summer, we tend to go to bed later, the sun sets later, our body's natural circadian rhythm, or clock in our brain, is set for later. And so, we might be going to bed a lot later than we normally would be for school. If you start trying to scoot it back now, it will be a gradual scooting back instead of a cold turkey flip back to school time, which could be really rough for that first week of school,” explained Brian Chen, MD, sleep specialist at Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Chen said when a child doesn’t get enough sleep, that can negatively impact them in the classroom. 

They may be more irritable, have trouble remembering things or struggle to focus. 

It can also impact their performance with sports and other activities. 

So, how can parents help ease that transition? 

Dr. Chen said you first need to determine how much sleep they need, which is going to vary based on their age. 

For example, older kids typically need less sleep than younger kids. 

Once you do that, you can start to gradually bump up their bedtime by a little each week until school starts. 

But that’s not all. 

“Having a good bedtime routine is key to being able to fall asleep on time. And that bedtime routine should include things like getting your pajamas on, brushing your teeth, getting into bed and relaxing your brain and your body. However, it should not include things like using phones, screens, bright lights,” he said.

The same goes for sunlight, too. 

Dr. Chen said since the sun sets later in the evenings, it can make it harder for a child to fall asleep. 

To help with that, you may want to consider blackout curtains.