Sleep expert shares how to prepare your child for the return back to school
Students across the Philadelphia region are heading back to school in the coming days and weeks, and according to one sleep expert, parents should start preparing their children now for the adjustment to a school schedule.
You don't want to "cold turkey" your child's sleep schedule on their first week back. When you think about the building blocks that lead to success in the classroom, sleep should be considered foundational.
"It needs to be considered in the same way we think about oxygen in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the sleep we get," Dr. Indira Gurubhagavatula says. "It's just a really important pillar."
Gurubhagavatula is a professor of medicine at Penn and has been a sleep physician for more than 30 years. She says after a summer of fun and late bedtimes, getting your kids back on track should start before the first day of school.
"Start moving that bedtime back by 10-15 minutes every night, and you may need to do that for a couple of weeks in order to get to the desired bedtime," she says.
No screens before bedtime
What your kids do before bedtime is just as important. Gurubhagavatula recommends putting screens down at least an hour before it's time to go to sleep. Those screens can keep kids awake in several ways.
"Not only the blue light from the screens that tells our brain it's wake-up time," she says. "The other thing is the content — what are they looking at? Is it very activating? Is it a really vigorous video game? If your brain is very wound up and you're keyed up and excited, it's kind of hard to go right to sleep."
Gurubhagavatula says watch what they eat and drink as well; caffeine is a big sleep disruptor. But you don't have to stop all the fun.
"Exercise and get out and move, and do something physical so you're good and tired when it's time to go to bed," she says. "It takes a lot of healthy sleep to develop brains and to grow bodies, and to learn and do all of the things children are supposed to do."
How much sleep do teens and kids need?
How much sleep is a healthy amount?
Gurubhagavatula says younger students, ages six to 12 years old, should get an average of nine to 12 hours of sleep a night.
Older students — 13 to 18 years old — should get eight to 10 hours a night.
She says sleep deprivation can be extremely dangerous for older teenagers, especially if they're driving to school. And poor sleep is not just a problem for the child; it impacts the whole family.
"They're just not going to be able to learn as well if they're sleep deprived, and when children haven't had their sleep, parents know the next day," she says with a smile.
