Moms Talk: Do Your Kids Get Enough Sleep?
A local pediatrician tells parents at PTO-sponsored meeting that the answer generally is no.
Dr. Thomas Porter, of Basking Ridge Pediatrics, and Rhonda Dunten, WAMS PTO member, at the March 14 WAMS PTO meeting with talks on sleep deprivation and healthy eating.
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Apparently, even "sleeping like a baby" can mean you're sleep-deprived these days.
Dr. Thomas Porter, a pediatrician with Basking Ridge Pediatrics, told a group of parents at a William Annin PTO-sponsored meeting on Wednesday morning that all ages of children and adults lack enough sleep these days, for one reason or another.
"Everyone is sleep-deprived," Porter said in a conversation following the meeting.
That even can include babies, who may be awake at times when adults or older siblings who lead such busy lives during the day want to see the family's youngest member in the evening, the doctor noted. Or, of course, babies and young children may be wakened to attend day care or for some other scheduled event or errand.
But, as most parents who are in or have been through the teenage years know, the problem gets even worse with adolescence.
At about age 12, Dr. Porter said, the internal clocks of young adolescents are reset so they want to stay up later.
Some other communities, he said, including Millburn, are looking at starting high schools a little later. Experiments with somewhat later start times for high schools in Minneapolis and Kentucky have shown a reduction in student tardiness, better grades and less depression, the pediatrician said.
The health implications also carried over into the prevention of actual injury. Dr. Porter said there was a reduction in the number of car accidents of teen drivers heading to school in the morning at those high schools with later start times.
With early morning school starts, "You are waking them (students) up in the most important REM (rapid eye movement) cycles," Porter noted.
But a change in school starting times are not likely to happen here in the near future. So, what do we do in the meanwhile?
The pain of early rising may have been felt by many (certainly in this household!) with a bit of extra sting this week, with the start of Daylight Saving time.
Not too perky myself on Sunday morning, I tried to get my 15-year-old out of bed by about 9:30 a.m. Tried, and failed. He had had a late Friday night and then went to bed his usual time on Saturday — which should have been before midnight, but because of the time change actually ended up to be after midnight.
When he finally arose, it was near the usual wakeup time on a school morning (Dr. Porter recommends trying to keep a regular schedule for good sleep), or would be if we were in the Hawaiian time zone. And this week, there's been little cheeriness at breakfast, which the kid has shown less than the usual inclination to eat.
Dr. Porter says it's not a bad thing to fall off the rails now and then with a change in sleeping hours, but odd hours shouldn't become a set pattern.
Is that what you see with your high school students, or even middle school child? And what are some of the ways to try to live with a school schedule that's out of sync with your child's sleep pattern?
For one thing, the doctor advises trying to let some light in the room in the morning, although he said children should sleep in a cool, dark setting. Coffee should be avoided, or limited, he suggested.
A very important step, he said, is to limit electronic devices in your child's bedroom. Most children have televisions in their bedrooms, studies show, that can be a distraction before bedtime, or even a temptation to turn on in the middle of the night.
And even if your student gets to bed on time, that cell phone can signal texts or other communications from their night-owl friends.
The doctor said that sleep should be considered a very important aspect of health, he said — right up there with nutrition. He also noted during his presentation that a lack of sleep can increase increase cravings for carbohydrates, as many dieters or overworked adults already know, adding to weight gain.
So, do you have a way to get your children, young or old, to obtain a sufficient amount of sleep?
Is this a problem for your kids? How does it show up in their daily lives? Would you like to see later school starts, or fewer activities scheduled before school?
Let us know in the comment section below!
In This article
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Basking Ridge Pediatric Health Center
150 S Finley Ave, Basking Ridge, NJ -
William Annin Middle School
70 Quincy Rd, Basking Ridge, NJ -
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Linda Sadlouskos
12:56 pm on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Are your kids sleep-deprived? What do you think of some of Dr. Porter's suggestions?
Rhonda Dunten
2:16 pm on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
I agree with Dr. Porter that our society as a whole is sleep deprived, and my household is no exception. Two things that stood out for me in Dr. Porter's talk were the link between light and the wake/sleep cycle and the physiological shift to later bedtimes experienced by teens.. During a large portion of the school year in our district, our middle and high school students are forced to wake up, eat breakfast, and get out the door to the bus before the sun is up. I envy my friends in other states where school start times are significantly later. Shifting start times by as little as 30 minutes could make a big difference with regard to daylight. Furthermore, even if a parent wanted to convince their teen to prioritize sleep over schoolwork, teens are not physiologically able to go to sleep at the early time that would be required to get the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep a night. For the current 6 am wake up necessary to get to school, that means going to bed as early as 8 pm, but Dr. Porter showed that teens' bodies are not ready for sleep at that time. Later school start times for middle and high school make a lot of sense to me.
Colleen Epple Pine
2:49 pm on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Believe it or not, we are fine if the children are sleeping enough for a given "week" versus a single night. For every night that may be short-changed, they may make up for it on other nights. We only feel slighted because we think of our days in hours, but the body works 24/7. Therefore, a poor night's sleep can be counter-acted within a day or so with another solid night of sleep. We judge the entire week rather than by the night. Also, we are noticing a lot more naps with our teens these days and we encourage them for a fresh start.
Linda Sadlouskos
2:54 pm on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
"ANOTHER MOTHER'S" comment: "My 16 year old can't fall asleep until at least 11:00 and then it is very difficult for her to get up. Unfortunately she requires at least 8 hours. Now with losing an hour she struggles even more. My son who is 10 and has autism would wake up for weeks at 4 or 4:30 a.m. His doctor suggested benadryl and I gave it to him for a couple of weeks and it seems to have put him on track, so he is now getting up at 5:30-6:00 a.m. Thank god I would love it if they at high school levels start at 8:00 instead of 7:20. I don't see that happening anytime soon. Thanks Linda for keeping the familes of Basking Ridge connected. "
Jake Sperling
6:56 pm on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Teenagers thanks to hormones are more inclined to sleep late and stay up late. Why have school times that go against natural biology?
Alicia R. Camlibel, Ph.D., LPC
11:39 pm on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
regular and consistent sleep is important for all but especially children and teens who produce growth hormone while they sleep. We all need the reparative and restorative properties that come from a good and full night of sleep. It seems that not only does school start too early for teenagers but that a lot of their extra curricular activities, especially sports end late at night. Practice until 8, games that end at 9? when do these kids have time for down time and rest and relaxation? not to mention homework and eating.....it makes sense to adjust schook times based on teens biological needs but also seem like parents of kids need to assess their entire schedules to make sure they are getting the sleep they need and deserve.
Terra Ziporyn Snider, Ph.D.
12:05 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
As noted in this article, school start times more in keeping with adolescent sleep needs are not likely to happen in the near future. For many school systems, they're also not likely to happen ever if we continue to wait for local schools to change their start times, a feat that is often virtually impossible given political realities that too often trump student health and welfare. For information about a growing national coalition that’s bringing communities together to find new approaches to this old problem, check out www.StartSchoolLater.net.
Heather Macintosh
11:25 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
I am afraid that unless parents get active on this issue, it might never change for the many school districts across the country that still start school before 8a.m. I'm envious, too, of the communities with a reasonable start time. Their kids are learning and living on a much healthier schedule.
My 9th grade daughter gets on the bus in the dark and I do not want my 6th grader to be doing the same when he starts high school. I want a safe andschool healthy schedule for all kids now!
Www.startschoollater.net
Karen
1:45 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
We understand how important it is to get a good nights sleep and spent time working with sleep consultants in the USA. We developed our new Good Night Sleep Chart.
The Good Night, Sleep Tight reward chart creates the perfect bedtime routine for children. It provides a step by step routine with tips and guidelines to help you give your child a healthy nights sleep. Perfect for the child who’s making the transition from crib to bed also - check it out at http://www.victoriachartcompany.com/sleep-chart.html and visit our facebook page for coupons http://www.facebook.com/VictoriaChartCompany
Dolores Skowronek
5:12 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
You're right Heather, parents need to get active or nothing will change. I am also envious of communities with later start times. Our high school starts at 7:10am but the district a few blocks down the street starts at 8:35am. I don't understand the disparity. What makes my kid different? My 16 year old is struggling. I hope more people will sign Terra's petition. I'm glad I did.
Dolores Skowronek
5:15 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
Here's the petition: http://signon.org/sign/promote-legislation-to.fb1?source=s.fb&r_by=1521139