Blog Posts 1–5, based on the United States of America Department of the Army Field Manual: Holistic Healing and Fitness, describe what really matters for your child’s sleep. If sleep is an important enough topic for national defense than surely sleep should be considered a serious topic for parenting!
PARENTS
Blog Post 154-Revised-American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement: The American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement (2022)
Delaying school start times for adolescents permits more sleep and the benefits from more sleep:
Starting school later, for middle-schools and high-schools, is associated with very small increases in night sleep duration for students, ranging from only 2 to about 30 minutes. However, over time, these few minutes of extra sleep produce dramatic improvements in mood, grades, prosocial behaviors, peer relationships, attention levels or alertness, and less tardiness, less restless-impulsive behavior, and fewer automobile accidents (Blog Post 6). What about the parents? When school start times are moved later, how does this affect the parents?
Here are the results from a 2021 paper showing benefits for the parents:
A. High schools started at 8:20am (70 minutes later than previously). Children woke up 60 minutes later.
Parents’ sleep duration increased by 20 minutes.
B. Middle schools started at 8:50am (40-60 minutes later than previously). Children woke up 37 minutes later.
Parents’ sleep duration increased by 12 minutes.
After the changes in school start times, over a two-year follow-up, the benefits for all the parents were:
1. Parents woke up later.
2. Parents had longer night sleep durations.
3. Parents had better sleep quality.
4. Parents felt less tired.
Blog Post 223-A Leader’s Guide To Soldier Health and Fitness. ATP 6-22.5
The United States of America Department Of The Army has two publications that discuss sleep.
1. A Leader’s Guide To Soldier Health and Fitness ATP 6-22.5
2. Holistic Healing and Fitness FM 7-22. (Blog Posts 1–5).
From ‘A Leader’s Guide To Soldier Health and Fitness ATP 6-22.5’: For the word ‘Leader’, insert the word ‘Parent’. For the word ‘Soldier’, insert the word ‘Child’.
“Sleep is a biological need, critical for sustaining the mental abilities needed for success on the battlefield (success in school, sports, music…). For this reason, sleep should be viewed as critical as any logistical item of resupply, like water, fuel, and ammunition. Commanders [Parents] need to plan proactively for the allocation of adequate sleep for themselves and their subordinates [Children]. Tasks such as requesting fire, integrating range cards, establishing positions, and coordinating squad tactics (cognition) are more susceptible to sleep loss than well-practice, routine physical tasks such as loading magazines and marching (simple rote tasks, motor memory). For example, Soldiers may be able to accurately aim a weapon, but not select the correct target. In addition to declining military performance, leaders (parents) can expect changes in mood, motivation, and initiative as a result of inadequate sleep. Therefore, while there may be no outward signs of sleep deprivation, Soldiers (children) may still not function optimally.”
Sleep is important for national security (Blog Post 220).
