Healthy Habits: Back-to-School Sleep Tips

 

Students are going back to school next month! 70% of high school students do not get enough sleep on school nights. 

Pediatrician, Dr. Nilong Vyas, shared some tips on how children can get a good night’s sleep: 

“3 steps parents can take to get kids on track for optimal sleep through the school year 

• Ensure adequate sleep which entails 10.5-12 hours a night for school-aged kids. 
• Establish a consistent bedtime routine.
• Keep waketime the same, even on weekends.

As children are planning on returning to school, the main thing parents need to focus on is getting the child adequate sleep based on their developmental needs. I recommend families to shift the bedtime up in 15-minute increments every night until the optimal bedtime is reached. 

 

Often, parents will allow their children to sleep in on the weekends but that then affects when the child will fall asleep that evening. If they sleep in to catch up on sleep debt on Sunday, they will be unable to fall asleep until past bedtime on Sunday night thus leading to a groggy Monday morning."



 

Information courtesy of Dr. Nilong Vyas, Pediatrician at Sleepless in NOLA and Medical Review Expert at SleepFoundation.org