By: Dr. Shattuck, St. Mary’s Center for Sleep Disorders
Driving to work today, I noticed the first hints of fall in a smattering of yellow and red leaves. A yellow school bus then pulled out in front of me reminding me that the change in season also means that kids will be returning to school soon—if not already.
Going back to school means a shift in schedules that inevitably affects children’s sleep patterns. Leisurely summer mornings of sleeping in are replaced by a mad dash to make it to the bus stop in time. Most children are able to shift their schedules after a brief period of adjustment. However, for some the change in schedule can be problematic and lead to personal, family, or academic problems.
A few strategies can help to ease the adjustment to an earlier wake-up time:
1) Anticipate—try to gradually move your child’s bedtime earlier in the weeks preceding the start of school. A good rule of thumb is waking your child 15-30 minutes earlier per week.
2) Have a consistent wake-up time on weekdays and weekends. If your child tends to sleep late, allowing ‘catch-up’ sleep on weekends will only reinforce this tendency and make it more difficult to reset his or her body clock to an earlier time on school days.
3) Have a predictable bedtime routine that is quiet and soothing.
4) Prohibit computer use before bed. Computer monitors emit blue light which suppresses melatonin and may delay the body’s sleep time.
5) Electronic devices in children and teenagers’ bedrooms can also be a source of distraction. Consider putting a lock on your teen’s Blackberry if he or she just can’t stop texting or gaming at bedtime.
6) Encourage your child to get bright light in the morning, ideally within 30 minutes of waking. This can have a powerful effect on shifting one’s internal clock to an earlier bedtime.
With consistent attention to these behaviors, many children and teens will settle into the groove of school without problems. However, should sleep problems persist, discuss them with your pediatrician and consider an evaluation by a sleep specialist.
Dr. Shattuck earned his medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire. He completed his Psychiatric Residency at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and a Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Sleep Medicine Fellowship in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dr. Shattuck practices at St. Mary’s Center for Sleep Disorders at St. Mary’s Medical Building at 15 Gracelawn Road in Auburn. For more information, please call (207) 777-8959 or visit www.stmarysmaine.com.
Tags: Back to School, Dr. Shattuck, Lewiston, Maine, Sleep Disorders, St. Mary's Center for Sleep Disorders, St. Mary's Regional Medical Center
