Adjusting kids sleep schedules in the summer can be a challenge!
“Routine is key,” said Laura O’Donnell, the administrative manager at the pediatric sleep disorders lab at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.
However, that routine can be flexible during the summer months.
“We can relax those rules but we can’t get rid of them entirely,” said Dr. Jill Boergers, the co-director of the sleep program at Hasbro.
Boergers has advice for the younger kids.
“If you want to have their sleep schedule shift, maybe by about an hour later for bedtime and an hour later for rise time, that’s not generally a big issue for most kids who don’t have a sleep disorder,” she said.
Just know kids under the age of 12 are generally more sensitive to light, so a later bed time may still mean they get up early–and lose sleep. Maybe try some darkening shades.
Teens are a different story.
“Teenagers, as they go through puberty, their underlying circadian rhythm shifts later, and so during the school year their underlying sleep cycle doesn’t match up very well with the school start time,” said Boergers.
“So the summer is a nice time for them to catch up on their sleep and they often look forward to it.”
However, they shouldn’t be up all night and sleeping all day.
“There’s actually studies that have shown that that kind of sleep schedule can be bad for your mood, can be bad for your health, for example you can gain more weight on that kid of schedule,” she said.
Make sure their cell phones are off at night too.
“Thirty minutes before bedtime is our ideal,” said Boergers. “We know that cell phones are associated with getting less sleep in kids, and it’s usually because their phone is very engaging.”
She said separating your child from their phone can be a process too, so you’ll want to wean them off, But definitely they should be out of sight, out of mind 30 minutes before shut eye.
If you don’t veer too far from their regular routine in the summer it’ll be easier to get them back on track when school is back in session in the fall.
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