HANNIBAL, MO. -- For most kids, summer vacation means staying up late and sleeping in. However, doctors say *now* is the time to get kids on a school schedule before school starts.
If that's the case for your children, doctors say now is the time to get kids on a school sleep schedule.
Dr. Bryson McHardy is a pediatrician at the Hannibal Clinic.
He says the key is to transition them gradually. Try waking children up a half hour earlier each week until school starts. That transition will help kids get in the routine...and will keep you from frustration the first day of school.
But its not just waking up earlier. Parents have to enforce earlier bedtimes at night. Try moving bedtimes earlier as you transition to earlier rising. Why start now? Kids need time to adjust.
Dr. McHardy says its important for kids to get enough sleep.
-Kindergarteners need 11-12 hours a night
-Mid school years kids need 10 to 11 hours
- Kids in their early teen years need 9-10 hours a night
- Your teenager probably isn't getting enough sleep, at nine hours or more.
Dr. McHardy says if you make sleep a priority now, your children will be ready and focuses to hit the books later.
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