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Back to school: Tips to get your kids back on a sleep schedule

By Cheyenne Corin
Published  August 14, 2024 6:20pm EDT
Education
FOX 29 Philadelphia

Tips to get your kid's sleep schedule on track ahead start of school year

If you haven’t even begun to think about sleep schedules for school, don’t worry, you still have time, but experts say the earlier you start the easier the transition will be. FOX 29's Cheyenne Corin has the scoop.

PHILADELPHIA - It’s almost that time to start getting your kids back on their sleep schedules ahead of the start of the school year. 

If you haven’t even begun to think about sleep schedules for school, don’t worry, you still have time, but experts say the earlier you start, the easier the transition will be.

"Do you feel ready for the school year yet?" FOX 29’s Cheyenne Corrin asked Delaware middle school student Bryce Lancaster. 

"I still need some more time, like 3 months," replied Lancaster.

Most kids only have two weeks left before they head back to the classroom. 

"I’ll be planning this weekend to get them back in that routine because we had to come early to come here this morning and they were dragging and I said next week that's it buddy," said Erline Lancaster, Middletown Delaware.

Dr. Christopher Cielo, Director of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Sleep Center, says typically younger kids need 10 to 12 hours of sleep and teenagers require 8 to 10 hours. 

"Sometimes parents make the mistake of trying to start the wake-up routine way earlier than the kids needs to wake up thinking we’re going to let them snooze for half an hour, but that can actually be counterproductive," said Dr. Christopher Cielo, Director Of CHOP’s Sleep Center & Pulmonologist.

To get your kids' sleep schedule back on track for the school year, experts suggest gradually moving bed and wake up times earlier, sticking to a short, consistent routine, and taking away electronics 30-60 minutes before bed.

"It's something you can keep working on and it doesn’t necessarily have to be perfect on the first day," explained Dr. Cielo.

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"I just like when it's fully dark. I think it helps me a lot and I don't really like any noise," said Henry Nogales. 

Brenda Nogales says this weekend she plans to start getting her boys back on schedule.

"They go to bed after midnight and some days last night we were down at the shore and everyone went to bed around 12 so it's going to be hard to get back into that routine," said Brenda Nogales, Fox Chase. 

"I just go back into the routine it's almost like muscle memory after every year of it. You just get back into it and you’re fine," said Sebastian Nogales.