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March 7, 2003/Adar2 3 5763, Vol. 55, No. 28
Hey parents, kids need more sleep
BETH OLSON
Staff Writer
My daughter's friends have started calling at 9 p.m. on weeknights - not often, but a few times. She is unable to speak with them because she is already asleep, which leads me to wonder why these other children aren't sleeping. They all go to the same school and must get up around the same time, so why are they still making phone calls at 9 p.m.?
Of course, as kids get older activities keep them busy until later. Two nights a week, when my daughter has bat mitzvah class and dance team practice, she doesn't get home until after 8 p.m., but even on those evenings she's in bed before 9 p.m.
After pulling up a couple of sleep charts on the Internet (try www.healthyme.com), I found that an 11-year-old should be sleeping about 9 1/2 hours per night. That means for a 6:30 a.m. wake-up time, these kids should be sleeping at 9 p.m. But I suppose they're not sleeping if they're on the phone.
Sleep is a big issue for parents. I remember, when my kids were younger, spending hours talking with friends about their sleep habits. Even at that time, however, I was concerned about some of the comments I heard.
For example, the often heard, "my son won't go to bed before 10" has always distressed me. That's like saying "my son won't go to school" or "my son won't take a bath." These things aren't optional - children don't get to decide if they go to bed, parents decide.
I'm a firm believer that good sleep habits start when kids are young. It's a training process, just like anything else with children. Of course they don't want to go to bed. Nobody's kids want to go to bed. However, if you instill consistent habits when they're young, it becomes a breeze as they get older.
Do my kids ever whine when I say it's bedtime? Sure. Do they throw a tantrum? No way. Do they get to stay up later? Not on your life. And I'd estimate that 90 percent of the time they go to bed with nothing more than a "goodnight" once I tell them it's bedtime. (That doesn't include the "one more chapter?" plea once they become independent readers.)
Since both my kids have passed the napping stage, I don't have many conversations about it anymore with friends, but I do remember being appalled when people would tell me, "My son gave up napping when he was 15 months old." These are the same parents who every time you see them, they're pulling a sleeping child out of the car or lugging a groggy toddler around. Sometimes kids have trouble falling asleep at naptime or bedtime - don't we all have these problems on occasion? That doesn't mean we don't need to sleep anymore. It just means that we maintain a consistent routine until the stage passes. If your toddler, preschooler or school-age child is falling asleep in the car then they are sleep deprived. Additionally, experts say that if you have to wake your children up in the morning then they are not getting enough sleep. Kids should awaken on their own, fully rested (that goes for you, too, mom and dad).
There has been much debate about the increase in the number of children who are being labeled ADD or ADHD. Ironically, many of the symptoms of ADD are similar to those of sleep deprivation, and there have been numerous studies recently that have explored the connection (visit www.education-world.com for more information).
It's not easy to make sure children get enough sleep. It takes a firm commitment from both parents to maintain a consistent routine. A 5-year-old needs 11 hours of sleep a night. That means my youngest daughter needs to be asleep by 7:30 every night to get enough rest. With two working parents, schoolwork and a hectic extracurricular schedule, it's tough to get her in bed that early every night, but we do it because we know how important it is to her health and well-being (and for our own sanity).
For more information about children and sleep, visit the American Academy of Pediatrics Web site at www.aap.org.
Contact the writer at beth_olson@jewishaz.com.
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