“It’s time for bed” is one of the most important phrases you can say to help your child be more successful in the upcoming school year. “Sound sleep is associated with top performance, sound reasoning, impulse control and more,” says Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, best-selling author of Sleepless in America (2006, HarperCollins), www.parentchildhelp.com.
Take the following steps to reap the advantages of a good night’s sleep:
1. Know how much sleep everyone in your family needs. The average school-age child requires about 10 hours a night, but kindergarteners and first-graders may need 11 to 12 hours, Kurcinka says. (See sidebar for recommended sleep requirements.)
2. Strive to meet sleep requirements for the entire family. Make sleeping a top priority for your entire family - your children, you and your spouse, too. “If we protect our own sleep as well as well as our children’s, we will be better parents,” Kurcinka says.
3. Take a reality check. While parents want to do what’s best, Kurcinka acknowledges the reality of busy children getting 10 hours of sleep each night may be a challenge for many families.
“We’re a culture that doesn’t value sleep,” Kurcinka says. “We face pressures for our children that they need to compete so we enroll them in many activities to prepare them for adulthood.”
4. Engage in activities earlier in the day. Many parents juggle school-related activities that often occur in the evening, when a child needs to be winding down for sleeping. Yet as a parent, you can alter your decisions about participating in activities and running errands so sleep takes top priority in your household, Kurcinka says.
For example, rather than enrolling your child in swimming lessons after dinner, consider Saturday morning or after-school lessons instead. Run errands during the day, whenever possible.
“First, parents need to make sure a child will get enough sleep, and then they can plug activities into their calendars - not the other way around, scheduling activities and having them sleep around their schedules,” Kurcinka says.
5. Find support from others. Parents may find they cannot honor their children’s need for sleep without some support from other families.
“We need to create a message in our communities,” Kurcinka says. “Parents can get together and ask important questions such as, ‘Why does basketball practice need to begin at 8pm?’ They can let others know that they want their nine year olds to play basketball, but not at that time. Parents really can make a difference by speaking out.”
6. Know health implications of sleep. “The repercussions of not getting enough sleep are so widespread,” says Val Krage, a parent educator. “The risk factors and consequences are very eye-opening. Once parents understand it, they really react to it.”
Though scientists are still learning about the consequences of poor sleeping habits, research has clearly shown sleeping too little inhibits productivity and the ability to remember and consolidate information. Short sleep duration is linked with an increased risk for motor vehicle accidents, obesity, diabetes, heart problems, depression and substance abuse, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
7. Make the connection to sleep benefits. Many times, parents don’t connect academic, behavioral and health issues with sleep, Krage says. Sleep directly impacts mental and physical development. School-age children on little sleep can suffer from mood swings and behavioral problems, such as hyperactivity and cognitive difficulties that impact their ability to learn in school, Krage says.
Various studies have pointed to chronically sleep-deprived children performing two grade levels below their peers on standardized tests. “Children are not equipped to learn when they’re sleep deprived,” Krage says.
8. Start to shift bedtimes. For many families, the summer schedule - going to bed later and sleeping in longer - have disrupted sleep patterns for everyone. Ideally, families stick to a sleeping schedule all year long, including on weekends, not varying by more than one hour, Krage says.
As fall approaches, try to begin shifting your children’s bedtimes and wake times closer to their school schedules. Start to move the schedule in 15-minute increments.
9. Promote good sleep habits. Follow these tips from Kurcinka:
Recognizing a good night’s sleep begins in the morning. This means establishing a regular wake-up time and sticking to it.
More sleep resources can be found at www.sleepfoundation.org.
Sleep requirements (includes naps)
Newborns - One to two months, 10.5 to 18 hours
Infants - Three to 11 months, 9 to 12 hours during night, and 30-minute to two-hour naps, one to four times a day
Toddlers - Ages one to three, 12 to 14 hours
Preschoolers - Ages three to five, 11 to 13 hours
Kindergarten and First Graders, 11 to 12 hours
School-age - Six to 12, 10 to 11 hours
Teens – 13 to 17, 8.5 to 9.25 hours
Adults - 8.25 hours
Kim is a writer and mother of two daughters. For more information, visit www.seidelink.com.
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