Tips to Fix the Bedtime Battle Before School Starts

As summer break draws to a close, the countdown to the new school year begins. For parents, this means ensuring uniforms are pulled out of storage and still fit, school supplies are purchased and ready, and calendars are updated with upcoming school events. Re-establishing daily routines, especially those discarded during summer break, becomes essential. Just as important as having a freshly pressed uniform and a healthy breakfast on the first day of school, your child will not be fully ready to flourish without an adequate amount of rest.

We know this is no easy task for parents, but ensuring that your child is prepared for a successful first day and subsequent school year, a sleep schedule that begins at least two weeks before is highly recommended to allow your child to adjust to the new patterns and create healthy habits. For minor bedtime adjustments, a few days might be enough to make the transition. However, if your child’s sleep schedule has significantly changed over the summer, start making changes now. We have provided a simple sleep chart by age to assist you.

The CDC emphasizes the importance of sleep for overall health. Proper sleep supports brain growth, recovery, and boosts the immune system. Over the summer, many children have enjoyed sleeping in and staying up late. Now, parents face the challenge of reversing these habits to ensure children wake up on time, fully dressed, fed, and ready for the school day.

This transition can be mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting. Lower grade teachers say negative behaviors and tantrums often stem from being overly tired. Students might behave well in class but become a sobbing mess at home before dinner.

Educators suggest that if a child resists bedtime, it might be too late, and they are already overtired. They recommend gradually moving bedtime earlier by 30-60 minutes until you find a time with the least resistance. Unlike adults, children often exhibit exhaustion through hyperactivity or volatile emotions rather than recognizing they are tired.

In an article titled, Adolescent and The importance of sleep for adolescents’ long-term development, written by Lydia Gabriela Speyer for the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health (Volume 6, Issue 10, P669-670), Speyer states, “Sleep deprivation has been associated with a variety of health problems, including physical health conditions such as high blood pressure and obesity, and mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. Among young people, sleep deprivation has been associated with poor academic performance and increased emotional and behavioral issues… Considering that adolescence is a particularly important period of neural development, with brain maturation processes having been shown to be vulnerable to sleep deprivation, insufficient sleep during this developmental period is likely to lead to long-lasting difficulties. However, until recently, little research has investigated the longer-term effect of insufficient sleep on adolescent neurocognitive development.”

Sleep is equally important for upper school students. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recently stated that American children — particularly adolescents — face “a nationwide sleep crisis” and the CDCrecommends 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night for youths aged 13-18. However, studies show that 57.8% of middle school students and 72.7% of high school students do not get enough sleep on school nights.

Managing a teenager’s sleep schedule can be particularly challenging. The CDC offers these recommendations for parents:

• Model and Encourage Good Sleep Habits: Set a regular bedtime and rise time, even on weekends. Adolescents with parent-set bedtimes generally get more sleep.
• Dim Lighting: Reducing light exposure, including from electronics, in the evening helps promote better sleep.
• Implement a Media Curfew: Limiting technology use (computers, video games, mobile phones) before bed can prevent late bedtimes. Consider banning technology use after a certain time or removing these devices from the bedroom.

Transitioning back to school can be exhausting, especially for a child who is both excited and nervous. By ensuring our scholars get the rest they need, we can help them be their best selves every day.

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