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Early to bed, early to rise

School’s back in session, and it’s time to get serious about sleep
Ben MacKenzie, left, and his brother, Alex, pack their backpacks with school supplies before the start of the new school year. For the MacKenzies, maintaining a sleep schedule through the summer helps their transition into the school routine.

With the start of school this week, summer’s lazy rituals came to an abrupt end.

Gone are the weeks of staying up into the wee hours of the night and sleeping away the next day. For students, the school alarm is ringing early.

So how are families adjusting to this more rigid schedule?

For the MacKenzies of Durango, bedtime success lies in maintaining a sleep schedule throughout summer break, with bedtime for Ben, a sixth-grader, and Alex, a third-grader, aimed at 9 to 9:30 p.m., about an hour’s difference from when school is in session.

“I like the orderliness of school; I like the fact that we all have a routine, and then we come back together at night,” mother Liz MacKenzie said. “We’ve always been like that, ever since they were babies. They always had a bedtime, they always had a routine. We always eat breakfast together; we always eat dinner together.”

And the secret for the Braida family of Durango? Starting to ease back into the early-to-bed, early-to-rise schedule about a week out.

“The last 10 days, we have been scaling back the time about 10 minutes a day to a total of an hour and 15 minutes to get us to tonight (Monday),” said Antonio Braida, father of fourth-grader Clay and second-grader Evy.

“We’ve been waking up at a quarter to seven for three mornings already; no problem tomorrow morning (Tuesday, the first day of school),” he said.

“I do it at Daylight Saving Time in the spring, and I do it after all long vacations and Christmas break when the sleep-in schedule gets later and later. I always anticipate the ‘wakey wakey time.’ I scale back the ‘wakey wakey time’ so that it’s easier when we start again,” he said.

Consistency

When it comes to getting kids on the right sleep track, consistency is key, said Paula Schaub, nurse and health service provider for Durango School District 9-R.

Schaub said the National Sleep Foundation has found that as many as two-thirds of school-age children experience at least one sleep problem per week. Further, children with inconsistent bedtimes can experience feelings not unlike jet lag the morning after a late or restless night, resulting in grogginess and behavior that may be difficult to regulate.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children between ages 5 and 11 get at least 10 hours of sleep per night, and for teens, the CDC recommends nine to 10 hours of shut-eye.

Tips

So, what can parents do? Schaub put together a list of suggestions:

1. Get into a routine. Televisions, tablets, cellphones and computers should be turned off about an hour before it’s time to hit the hay. Light from electronic devices interferes with your body’s melatonin production, which can affect your sleep/wake cycle.

2. Avoid sugary or caffeinated drinks after dinner.

3. Take a nightly bath, which can help kids relax before turning in.

4. Make sure bedrooms are dark, quiet and a comfortable temperature (cooler is preferable).

Reconnecting

Aside from ensuring your children get enough rest for the next day’s challenges, bedtime, and any accompanying rituals that go with it, is a great way to reconnect after a busy day.

“It’s a wonderful daily opportunity to nurture a loving relationship with your child,” Schaub said. “It’s also a time to give them more undivided attention that may have been missed that day.”

And, Schaub said, it can be a time to pass on lessons they may even use as adults.

“It’s also a time to teach them a few relaxation tricks they can continue to use throughout their life,” she said.

If your kiddos didn’t stay on the sleep straight and narrow during some – or, ahem, all – of summer break, all is not lost. Families have time to pull it together so everyone has a well-rested school year.

“It may take a week or two, but consistency is key,” Schaub said.

katie@durangoherald.com



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