If you have not already done so, please read Blog Posts 1 through 5 that describe how sleep is important and beneficial. I will post specific information for parents and children based on my book, “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.” Please do not be put off by my book’s length. This is a reference book. Read only the topic of interest to you.
A. Routines
Our five children now range from 27 to 20. When I first wrote a narrative for your book, they ranged in age from 15 to 8 years. I went back and reread the summary—-one of the main ideas was routine. I asked each of our grown children what they remember about bedtime and sleep. I spoke to each child separately, and they all spoke of our “routine.” As our children grew and schedules changed, we were cognizant to keep a routine. They learned to budget their time to include their obligations, especially their regular attendance at nightly family dinner. I believe a key to this success is the fact that we, as parents, had never given the kids a choice in regard to this routine. Times and events changed as they aged, but the main idea was still the same: consistency in our healthy choices—-food, exercise, and sleep. We did not specifically have to tell our high school or college age children to go to bed; it was a routine that grew with our family.
Exceptions derail sleep, but parents get back on track with sleep routines.
When I struggle with their sleep from time to time, it is often after staying up too late, changing the routine, being on a vacation, or just doing something different. What I do see is that it gets easier and easier to get them back on track again, the older they get and the more times we have done this. It is easier for both because of their age but even more because of the early sleep training we did.
It is inevitable they will have some late practices or games and the bedtime will get pushed out. What we learned very early on was to stick to a schedule a majority of the time, and when the exceptions happen, the healthy habits are still intact.
Of course, children go through different stages—-nightmares, illnesses, travel, and jet lag—-and each of those situations requires special attention, but over the years, I’ve always tried to get back to our routine—-not letting my children stay up so late to the point where they are overtired. Now they are 12 and 14. They usually go to bed around 10:00 p.m., but there are certainly times where, because they are in tune with their own bodies, they put themselves to sleep early. On the flip side, there are other nights where they are wired from too much homework, school drama, or extra-curricular activities. We all try to go with the flow on those nights as well. Kids learn best from following an example, so I try to model healthy sleep routines myself. Go to bed early, read rather than watch TV before bed, and keep the bedroom for sleeping and quieter activities.
