Kids Need to Sleep More

I am a parent of school aged kids. They have friends they like to be with. They have sports and music lessons. They have homework and chores. We emphasize daily quality family time. They listen to music and watch TV and play games on the computer, phone, or iPad. We try to get them to bed early, but we seem to fill the time and before we know it, it is late. It seems like there is not enough time to give them enough sleep.

Children between the ages of 6 and 13 require between nine and eleven hours of sleep each night and teenagers require between eight and ten hours. Studies suggest that about 85% of kids are sleep deprived. That means that only 15% of children get adequate sleep. Are your kids getting enough sleep?

Sleep deprivation affects health. It limits the ability to focus, concentrate, listen and problem solve. It can affect behavior and mood (any parent knows this!) and absolutely affects school performance. Lack of sleep can increase sugar cravings and promote overeating, and can even contribute to skin conditions like acne.  It slows healing and inhibits proper immune function. In short, we are not doing our children any favors by letting them stay up too late.

As children age, the natural sleep cycle shifts to a later time, making it more difficult to fall asleep earlier in the night. Even so, adequate sleep is an absolute necessity. This makes a great case for later start times for schools, especially in high school and middle school.

Here’s what you can do to help your kids get more sleep:

1. Remove electronics from the bedroom and cut off access to them at least one hour prior to bedtime. Not only are these devices and shows stimulating, the also emit blue light which lowers melatonin levels.

2. Try to have all homework and activities completed one hour before bed. Try to help the settle down into sleep-time. It is difficult to go from activity straight to sleep without a winding down period.

3. Make the bedroom a soothing, peaceful and comfortable place. Encourage a tidy room and keep it dark, cool, and quiet.

4. Do the best you can to stick to a regular bedtime and bedtime routine. Remember back to infancy when you had your baby on a strict sleep schedule and you gave a relaxing bath, played sweet music, and rocked your baby to sleep? We all still need a soothing bedtime ritual and a regular bedtime. It helps to signal the brain and body that it is time to sleep.