Your Kid Needs Good Sleep

Not getting enough sleep can slow kids down in more ways than one. Here are some tips to catch up on the ‘z’s

Dictate lights out

When parents set the bedtime, kids require an average of 45 minutes more sleep per night than they decide for themselves, a recent Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth national poll found. Parents should continue to set bedtime through middle school and even high school. Once you decide on a time, be consistent.

Practice time management

Getting your child to bed should be taken just as seriously as getting her to school each morning. Schedule homework and dinner early to keep snooze time from slipping away. Reruns of favourite TV programmes that air past bedtime can be watched later.

Designate one day of the week as stayup-late night

If you’d like to watch a long movie with your child or enjoy another bedtime activity, do it on Friday —then get back on track Saturday and Sunday. We all have biological clocks that reset themselves every day. If you let your child stay up late and sleep late all weekend, you’ve reset her clock ahead by several hours. She won’t sleep well Sunday night, and she'll start the week with a sleep gap.