Archive: August 2006

Make sleep a priority for your children when they had back to school

Q: How much sleep do children need each day?

A: Elementary age: 10 –12 hours. High school and college: 8-10 hours

Q: What about students involved in extra curricular activities? Do they require more sleep?

A: If activities make the bedtime variable and cut sleep time below minimum, then there will be consequences such as attention deficits, long & short-term memory, and personality issues.

Q: Can you give parents a few tips to maintain good sleep hygiene?

1. Get children in bed as early as reasonable and most importantly try to keep it regular
2. Let them sleep in as long as they want (assuming a regular bedtime)
3. Use that amount of sleep as your gauge for how much sleep your child needs and should get during the school year
4. Take note of the positive aspects of your child's personality and performance when they get enough sleep!

Q: With school starting soon, when should parents start implementing an earlier bedtime schedule?

A: Gradually back up the bedtime and wake time one half hour at a time. Initially the kids won't be sleepy at bedtime but if you get them up early, they'll eventually get into the earlier bedtime. It takes about three weeks to make the change. In reality, if you move them back an hour for a few days, then another hour, you can do it in a week or so.

Q: Are children able to "catch-up" by sleeping in on the weekend, or how about taking naps after school?

A: Naps are okay mid-morning or afternoon, ten to twenty minutes can give a great boost. Napping several hours can make it hard to get to bed at the regular bedtime, then you want to sleep in and the problems begin. Take the last five days and add the total amount of sleep your child got. If it is more than two hours less than is needed (e.g. elementary students need a minimum of 10 hrs/day x 5 days = 50 hours) they need to makeup a couple of hours of sleep. Parents can plan ahead for this by putting children to bed earlier on a day when there are less activities planned in the evenings.

Q: What happens to children academically when they do not receive enough sleep?

A: Their grades suffer and elementary kids show signs of ADHD, which can be eliminated with adequate sleep. Kids don't have to fall asleep to be sleepy. Their brains take micronaps so they miss things in class, or while driving!

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?

A: This is an excellent time for parents to assess their own sleep schedule. Like education, work suffers when we don't get enough sleep. Decision-making, hand/eye performance, mental function, memory and personality degrade when we (adults) receive just one half hour less of sleep than we need each night. Make sure your teens get this message. Drowsy driving is a significant danger for them. The deficits associated with driving drowsy are similar and just as significant as driving drunk. Children need to go to school healthy, well fed and well slept so they can learn. Adults have the same obligation to their workplace and profession. A well slept home is a happy home. Try it, you'll like it!

EDITOR'S NOTE: This interview was conducted with Pamela Minkley RRT, RPSGT Center for Sleep & Alertness and Neurodiagnostic Services, Ingham Regional Medical Center and part of Ingham's 5-Star Worksite Wellness Team.