Bedtime should be the same time year-round, say sleep experts

There’s not much they can do about Independence Day, said Eric Bennion of the no-matter-what, 9 p.m.-bedtime rule he and his wife, Shelly, impose on their sons, William, 12, and Walker, 10.

“The fireworks don’t start until later, so that’s one day we make an exception,” said Eric Bennion, 40, of Downers Grove.

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Otherwise, the best way they can protect their kids’ sleep, despite the starting and stopping of school and activities, is to have them go to bed and get up at the same time year-round, said Bennion. Mom and dad, he added, do get a few hours together, alone, after the boys go to bed.

Results of sleep studies roll in at a steady pace. Although they tend to be small and focus on certain demographics, they share a common thread: Kids who get enough sleep are better off than kids who do not get enough sleep.

For example: Kids ages 7 to 11 who got enough sleep were more likely to get good scores in math and languages, according to a 2015 study at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.

Whereas middle-schoolers who didn’t get enough sleep or didn’t get quality sleep were “more reactive to stress,” according to a 2016 University of Alabama at Birmingham study.

Overall, sleep scientists know getting enough sleep “is critical to children’s health, academic performance, behavior, attention, memory, decision-making and mood,” said Dr. Jodi Mindell, a psychology professor at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. “But in terms of physiology, we don’t know exactly how lack of sleep results in these consequences.”

Some children need less sleep than others, but parents want a yardstick as their kids go through different stages of development. Thus, a consensus issued by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in 2016 and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that “kids ages 6 to 12 should get nine to 12 hours per 24 hours, while those ages 13 to 18 should sleep eight to 10 hours.”

Kids who follow these guidelines score higher in physical and mental tests, said the consensus. Those who sleep less than the recommended hours have more behavioral and academic problems. And, they’re more likely to have accidents, injuries, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, depression, and suicidal thoughts or attempts.

Sleeping more hours than these recommended guidelines result in some of the same problems as sleeping fewer hours.

Try to keep your kids on the same bedtime schedule year-round, say sleep experts, so back-to-school weeks and school breaks are not huge interruptions in their schedules.

“Just when you think you have it figured out, your kid gets older and goes into a different stage,” said Lance Somerfeld, 43, of citydadsgroup.com, a national parenting group for fathers. He and his wife, Jessica, are raising Jake, 8, and Jade, 1, in New York.

Before your child begins kindergarten (and his life becomes more complicated), begin a “calendar time” each evening. While you chart your schedule for the next day, ask your child to review his too. The Somerfelds’ son uses a “Star Wars” calendar to organize his outings, chores and vacations.

“Every kid should have his own calendar,” said Kevin Leman, a psychologist and author of “The Birth Order Book.” “It puts the responsibility in his court. Instead of the parent reminding him when an assignment is due, he can check his calendar.”

Make your child’s bedroom a calm, soothing retreat. The Somerfelds use low lighting and room-darkening shades. Keep it free of electronics, which emit blue light. “This suppresses melatonin, which is our sleep hormone,” said Mindell. “Without it, we sleep less and we’re groggy in the morning.”

Instead of using a cellphone as an alarm clock, the Somerfelds’ son uses a Teach Me Time clock that his parents programmed to shine yellow before it’s time for him to get up and green when it’s time. Before he learned to tell time, he knew by the color whether he should get up or go back to sleep when he woke up.

Help the kids wind down with some yoga positions or stretching exercises. Spend a half-hour with a quiet project, such as helping your child assemble family tree information he collected from DNA websites.

Keep the childhood bath-book-bed routine going as long as you can, experts say. When your child outgrows it, spend some quiet time in his room talking about tomorrow.

Now that the Bennions’ kids have become adolescents, they use audiobooks. “They listen to them for a half-hour in bed,” said Eric Bennion. “They calm them down and get them to sleep.” He said the audiobooks also help his kids avoid nightmares.

The older the child gets, the more he wants to participate in activities that would rob him of sleep. “You have to be the parent and make the unpopular decision and say no,” said Bennion. “At our house, it means only one sport per season.”

If you have done all of the above and your child is still not getting enough sleep, consult a specialist.

“There are 75 recognized sleep disorders, and most can be treated successfully,” said Dr. Shalini Paruthi, who specializes in sleep medicine at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield.

Leslie Mann is a freelancer.