Summer is drawing to a close, and children soon will return to school. I recommend that parents dedicate some time to discussing their child’s sleep schedule now and not wait until problems occur.

Studies confirm that a lack of adequate sleep has measurable effects on working memory, attention span and reaction time. Inadequate sleep can be a subtle contributor in young children who struggle to focus and learn, it can exacerbate feelings of depression and anxiety in older children and can even have tragic consequences when teens drive automobiles late at night.

As a general guide: toddlers need about 12 hours of sleep a night; children 3 to 6 need 10 to 12 hours; kids 7 to 12 need 10 to 11 hours; and teenagers need eight to nine hours.

It’s only natural that parents become a bit more lax about what time kids go to bed in the summer. I would recommend resuming your typical school schedule several weeks, if possible, before school resumes by setting a strict bedtime and by waking your children in the morning as if they were planning to attend school.

During my years as practicing pediatrician, adolescents were often the most difficult to manage. Getting eight or nine hours of sleep a night is hard to accomplish because the average adolescent does not feel tired at 9 or 10 p.m. This makes it nearly impossible to get enough sleep if they have to get up at 6 or 7 a.m. to get to school on time.

The body’s internal clock (circadian rhythms) changes normally during adolescence, and most schools have been resistant to address this change with later start times. The consequence is “tired” teens struggling to maximally learn.

What steps can parents take with adolescents to help them keep their body clocks running “on time”?

• Parents should not let adolescents sleep in on the weekend other than, perhaps, an extra hour or so. Sleeping longer doesn’t result in “catching up” and has been shown to extend weeknight sleepiness to even later hours.
• Parents should tell their child to use their bed only to sleep. Bed is not the best location for studying, listening to music or staying connected with friends through social media. Just as with an infant or child, a good sleep routine is critical and could include reading quietly and staying off social media and video games for at least an hour before lights out. And once the child goes to bed, all devices should be silenced and, if necessary, turned over to a parent until the morning.
• Eliminate naps after school (and certainly not in class). Napping can interfere with their already disordered circadian rhythm.
• If an adolescent is taking stimulant medications for ADD/ADHD, it may contribute to insomnia. Discuss this problem with your pediatrician. It may be possible to change medications to reduce their duration of action or to add melatonin, a natural hormone produced by the brain which may help with insomnia.

It usually works best when an adolescent agrees to these changes. As parents, we tend to focus on our children’s active, wakeful lives. But attention needs to be spent on their sleep in order for them to perform at their best.

Richard Lazaroff is a retired pediatrician who practiced in St. Louis County for nearly 40 years. Married for 42 years, he is the father of two, grandfather of four and the author of “Some Assembly Required, A Guide to Savvy Parenting.” His latest book is the novel “Illumination.”

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