Is your child ready for a school-night bedtime? Experts say start making changes now.

The countdown to the first day of school is on, and now is the time to start making some adjustments.

That includes getting in the rhythm of a good night's sleep.

Unlike a light switch, you can't just turn on school night bedtimes with a click.

Whatever your student's bedtime is in the summer, it's important to remember just how much sleep your child needs during the school year.

"Elementary kids typically need around, like at least nine to 10 hours of sleep, you know, and actually, that progresses, that continues on into teenage years," according to Allegheny Health Network sleep specialist Dr. Chris Pham.

Dr. Pham says that sleep sets them up for success. Without it?

"They may appear that they're very inattentive. They might be very overreactive. They get a little bit grouchier. You're in the mood swings," Dr. Pham says.

So start the bedtime adjustments now.

Dr. Pham says you should not expect your child to suddenly embrace going to bed an hour earlier.

"You want to do it in small increments of 15 minutes, you know, so that would take about four days, four nights to reach where your goal is," Dr. Pham explained.

It might still be light outside, so eliminate the light in their room naturally with things like blackout curtains.

It's also important to remove the artificial light from screens.

"Getting rid of those [devices] at least one or two hours before bedtime," Dr. Pham suggested.

You might also want to move dinner a little earlier.

"No big meals within two hours of bedtime," Dr. Pham said.

Dr. Pham says some noise helps, too, but don't go down the rabbit hole of the different kinds of noises: white, pink, brown. He says good old white noise — kind of like static — will block out other outside sounds and let you reach a deeper sleep.

And while the kids may be asleep for the night, getting them up earlier for the school bus could be a challenge.

Dr. Pham says that's where light comes in, such as sunlight or other natural light. It has a wonderful effect of bringing us to our most alert state.

Parents might want to consider one of those artificial daylight lamps, especially if you're up before the chickens.