Going back to school – how to make the transition smoother

 

Alright, let me just start off here by saying, honestly and sincerely, no judgment for what might have gone down in the last couple of months 🙂

I know… I’m a child sleep consultant, and you may think that I’m going to chastise you for the late bedtimes, unenforced rules, inconsistent schedules, or any of the many “inadvisables” that may have taken place over your summer vacation. 

But I get it. I really do. I’m a mother myself and I know how precious these summer months are. You want to squeeze every minute of joy and togetherness you can from these glorious days. 

 

If it’s a choice between consistent bedtimes and staying up to watch the fireworks, I mean c’mon. That’s no choice at all, right?

So no matter what might have happened over the summer vacation, all is forgiven. 

The mission now is to get your child back on track so that they can get back to sleep at a reasonable hour the day before they head back to school. 

So I hope you’ll keep reading without fear of any finger-wagging or talk of what you should have done differently.

I promise you, it’s not in here. 

 

1. Set a bedtime and stick to it

So first things first. What time should your kids be going to bed?

Well, a lot of parents I work with are surprised to hear that I recommend somewhere between 7:00 and 8:00 at night. They’re even more surprised when I tell them that I suggest they keep that bedtime until their child is about 12 years old. There are two reasons why I think kids should be in bed, and by that, I mean sleeping, by 8:00 at night.

 

• First, school kids need at least 10 to 11 hours of sleep a night.

An extra hour or two on top of that is never a bad thing. From experience, I can tell you that most parents are underestimating their child’s sleep need. My 6 yr old and my 3 yr old (still on1 nap) still need 12h of nighttime sleep. That sounds a lot, especially if your friend’s and neighbors kids are still running around at this time or even a lot later.

I know what I am talking about – I am a German sleep consultant living in Spain! For sure, I am the odd mother who has dinner at 7pm and the kids sleeping in bed by 8pm. But I don’t care – my children are a lot happier and healthier that way.

And that is all I care for.

So, to find out your child’s best bedtime, count back the hours of sleep they need from the time they have to get up in the morning. Factor in the time it takes them to get to sleep after they get into bed, plus the inevitable request for a glass of water or a totally bogus insistence that they need to use the bathroom half an hour after you close their door, and 8:00 is pretty much the latest they can get to bed and still get the sleep they need. Furthermore, don’t forget that they have a circadian rhythm or bio clock which dictates when is the best time to go to sleep. This timing is called sleep windows, and when you manage to put your child down then, they will go to sleep a lot easier.

 

• Second, you, as a parent, and your partner if there’s one, need to exist child-free for a few hours a day.

You need to be able to watch TV (and not only Peppa pig and paw patrol), to be able to eat some junk food without fear of being spotted, to just do grown-up things, and to recharge those parenting batteries. It’s vital to your relationship with your partner and with your kids. 

 

Alright, so now that we know when to put our kids to bed, let’s move on to the significantly more difficult issue of how. 

 

2. Don’t leave it to the last minute 

Hopefully, you’re reading this while there’s still a couple of weeks before school gets back in because the easiest way to get back on track is little by little.

If they’ve been going to bed at around 9:00 or 10:00 pm for the better part of their vacation, try moving bedtime up by about 15 to 2o minutes every couple of days until you’re back to their normal bedtime. If this requires a little deception on your part by adjusting the clocks in their room, you just go ahead and get deceptive. Sometimes the ends really do justify the means. For smaller kids, which can’t read the time yet, use a light clock or just a simple light/lamp you put on a timer. So they get visual clues as to when it’s sleepy time and when to get up.

I personally love and use an alarm clock that simulates the sunrise. Especially during these dark and cold winter mornings, it helps us a lot to have an easier time getting up.

 

3. Establish a bedtime routine 

If you had an effective bedtime routine before your summer vacation threw everything into upheaval, then try to re-implement it as much as possible. Familiarity will definitely help your child settle back into the schedule quicker and with less resistance than trying out something new. 

On the other hand, if this is your first go at implementing a bedtime routine, let me just stress how much easier a repetitive, predictable bedtime routine can make your life. When your child’s body and brain start to associate things like baths, stories, brushing teeth, putting on PJs, all done in the same order at the same time every night, it cues up their melatonin production, making sleep come easier. 

I seriously can’t recommend bedtime routines highly enough!

 

Here comes an extra tip: Use a timer. 

Of course, things like baths and stories are super fun, so there is a tendency for your toddler to try and negotiate for more time in the tub, or one more story. If you find yourself constantly having to play sheriff, a timer can be your best friend for keeping things on schedule, and as silly as it may sound takes the blame off of you and puts it on the timer. Mom can be reasoned with, but the timer is downright unwavering. • 

 

4. Turn of those screens 

Along with the slack enforcement of bedtimes during the summer, we also tend to ease up on the rules surrounding TV, video games, or otherwise staring at screens in the hours leading up to bedtime. After all, there’s no homework to be done, so maybe we can allow a little leeway for an extra episode of Teen Titans.

The thing about screens, whether they’re phones, TVs, computers, or tablets, is that they put out a massive amount of blue light. Our brains associate blue light with sunshine, and therefore daytime, so screens before bed can actually have the unwanted effect of firing your kid’s system back up when it should be powering down. 

Try to avoid any screen time for at least two hours before bed. (Side note, this also applies to adults, so if you’re having trouble falling asleep at night, try reading instead of watching TV before you turn in.) 

 

5. Turn to the dark side 

And while we’re on the subject of light, for many of you living in the northern areas of the planet, you may notice that it doesn’t get dark until significantly later than 8:00, and the only thing that simulates sunlight better than a TV screen is… you know, actual sunlight.

If your child’s bedroom is still lit up when you’re putting them to bed, I suggest investing in a set of blackout blinds. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. You can get a six-pack of cheap blinds on Amazon, or even something called non-adhesive window film, which is just plastic you can cut to size and slap up over the glass. If you’re concerned about aesthetics and willing to spend the money, there are plenty of color options besides black that still blocks out the light.

Whichever way you choose to do it, get that sunlight out of the bedroom. It’ll make a world of difference, I promise you. 

 

One final thing to add here:

Having experienced some leniency regarding bedtime can suddenly transform your child into an astoundingly sharp lawyer. Arguments for why they should be allowed to stay up later are likely to be heard for at least a few days and, potentially, the next eight or ten years. Luckily, parenting is not a democracy. It is a glorious dictatorship where “Her Highness, the Momma,” makes all the rules. Don’t give in to the pressure, because as I said earlier, this 8:00 bedtime is going to be in place for several years. The sooner they accept that as the norm and their summertime hours as a special circumstance, the easier this whole bedtime thing will be for you and for them. 

So there it is, fellow parents! I hope you had yourselves a wonderful summer vacation, and that you are looking forward to starting school again. 

I promise you that, no matter what grade they’re headed into, nothing will help them go into the new school year with a better attitude and positive outlook than getting plenty of sleep.

They’ll be happier (1) , more socially outgoing (2) , and ready to learn (3). 

And if this is your first experience with the kids out of the house since you became a mom, oh baby, let me tell you about the sweet days ahead. (Once you’ve gotten over the initial heartbreak, of course.) 

 

p.s. If sleep continues to be an issue in your home, then you’ll know where to find me.

Just write me an email (no strings attached): info@thesleepingbabyproject.com

I am happy to help!

I wish you all the best and happy, healthy, and sleeping children.

Your Jessica

 

(1) Jennifer L. Vriend, PhD Fiona D. Davidson, MA Penny V. Corkum, PhD Benjamin Rusak, PhD, FRSC Christine T. Chambers, PhD Elizabeth N. McLaughlin, PhD (2013) Manipulating Sleep Duration Alters Emotional Functioning and Cognitive Performance in Children – Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Volume 38, Issue 10, 1 November 2013, Pages 1058–1069, https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jst033

(2) Mindell J, Lee C, Goh D, Leichman E, Rotella K (2017). Sleep and Social-Emotional Development in Infants and Toddlers. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology 46:2, 236-246, DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2016.1188701

(3) Sleep efficiency (but not sleep duration) of healthy school-age children is associated with grades in math and languages – Gruber, Reut et al. Sleep Medicine , Volume 15 , Issue 12 , 1517 – 1525