WASHINGTON — Sleep is crucial for kids, and the time to start to adjust bedtimes for the new school year is well before classes start.
“The key is moving the wake-up time slightly earlier — by 15 to 20 minutes — every couple of days,” says psychologist Daniel Lewin, associate director of sleep medicine for the Children’s National Health System.
He says if children wake up earlier in the morning, they are able to fall asleep a little bit earlier each night. But he says it’s best to make the shift in gradual, small increments.
“What you don’t want to do is jump their schedule back by an hour, so they are going to bed earlier, and then they lie in bed not prepared to fall asleep yet,” he says.
The goal is to get kids the hours of sleep they need to be at their best during the day — usually about 9 1/2 hours for teenagers, and 10 to 11 hours for younger children.
Lewin says parents need to be “reasonable” when kids beg to stay up late during the last weekend of summer vacation, and try to set some limits.
Also, he says it’s important to incorporate a few “rituals” in their bedtime routines.
For little kids, that could be a little quiet time or a chance to end the day with some positive interaction with their parents.
Lewin says reading together before bed is a wonderful habit, as is sharing a little bit of — what he calls — “snuggle time.”
