5 Tips for Back to School Sleep

I have to admit, I loved having my 6-year old up late this summer. My son is so great at going-with-the-flow of whatever is happening - he just loves to be involved. Whether we were up playing road hockey, going on a bike ride, jumping on the trampoline, or just playing board games together, we were having fun.

I remember feeling this overwhelming sense of mom-guilt when I was pregnant with my second baby…thinking I would never have 1-on-1 time with my oldest again like we used to. I’m happy to report that I was wrong :) We have lots of intentional 1-on-1 time together, most commonly after I put my daughters to bed and Drake still has a full hour before bedtime.

But, as summer comes to an end and early-school-mornings become a factor again, we do need to get our bedtime back to normal.

Here are 5 tips to help your school-aged child get their sleep back on track:

1. Consistent Morning Wake Up Time.
   As adults, most of us have a set wake up time. Our circadian rhythm is in charge of waking our bodies up once we feel rested (and sometimes before we’re totally rested!) since it acts as an internal body clock. In order to change our internal body clock, we have to wake ourselves up at a consistent time every morning and ideally go to bed at a consistent time every night. With school around the corner, I want to recommend that you start using either a toddler-clock system to help wake your child up, or even incorporate an actual alarm clock in their room. That way it takes the pressure off of you being the “bad guy” waking them up in the AM, and it also gives your child some responsibility. Even these few days before school starts, have them wake up at the time would need to wake up for school.

2. Screen-Time Usage.
   Our family loves using screen-time as a tool. It can be helpful to turn a show on while I have a client call, or use an iPad for a road trip, or even to have a chill movie night together. However, having constant screen-time leading up until bedtime can be a problem. The blue and white lights emitted from screens can have a detrimental effect on our natural melatonin production. It makes “turning off your brain” to fall asleep, really really hard. It’s also helpful to have your children get outside and MOVE - encourage movement throughout the day instead of screen-time.
   I definitely want to recommend that you eliminate screen-time at least 1 hour before your child’s bedtime. That way they have enough time to settle down and relax into sleep.

3. Solid Bedtime Routine.
   I can’t emphasize how important it is to not skimp out on your child’s bedtime routine. There are times where you won’t have time for a full routine, and that’s okay, but I want you to try to make it your norm that you do a consistent, regular bedtime routine.
   For a school-aged child, this routine will land anywhere between 30-45 minutes in length. Here are some activities you can include in your child’s bedtime routine (you pick and choose what works for your family):
   Bath/Shower, Snack, Reading Books, Playing a Game (board game or card game - absolutely no screen-time games), Puzzle/Play-Doh/Colouring, Journal, Brush Teeth, etc.
   In our house, our son’s bedtime routine will often look like this: shower, PJs, snack (usually apple & peanut butter) while we play a board game (we’re really into sequence right now), brush teeth, story (1 or 2), talk about our good things from the day, kisses & goodnight.

4. Start With Morning.
   When making any big sleep changes, I generally recommend starting at bedtime. However, if you’re dealing with later bedtimes and later morning start times, you are going to have to start with morning. If your child woke up at 9am, you can’t expect them to be ready to go to sleep at 7-7:30pm. That’s why you are going to start waking them up in the morning when you want to get onto your new schedule. They may complain and seem a little extra cranky and sensitive the first few days, but I promise it’s worth it. Waking them up in the morning will give them extra sleep pressure (their natural need to sleep) in the tank, so that when bedtime rolls around, they are tired at the earlier time - rather than their usual summer bedtime.

5. Meal-Time & Movement.
   There have been far too many days this summer where 8pm rolls around and my 6-year old is STARVING since we ate dinner too early & he spent the evening biking with the neighbourhood kids. Having proper mealtimes with adequate nutrition is an important aspect of sleep. It’s so important to prioritize eating from all of the food groups and offering complete meals at mealtime. This avoids the late-night binge that lots of kids gravitate towards since it’s been so long since their last meal. In relation to sleep, eating too close to sleep can actually be counterproductive. As we eat, our digestive system warms our body up as it starts digesting your food, and in order for a good sleep to happen, our bodies need to cool down. Eating can also stimulate a bowel movement as our digestive system adds more food into its process - so having a bedtime snack 30-45 minutes before laying down to sleep at bedtime can be helpful. We don’t want the snack happening RIGHT before going into bed.
   Incorporating a healthy amount of movement in your child’s day is also a crucial part of sleeping well. Whatever you child likes to do - whether it be swimming, walking, running, biking, etc. let’s try to do at least 30 minutes of that per day. This helps get some energy out and it makes relaxing into sleep, that much easier.
   

Sending a child off to school is such a milestone in your parenting journey, and I hope these sleep tips help get your little one ready for their big day. As always, if you have specific questions, or if you feel like you need a little more help since your child has some bad habits or big feelings around sleep, let’s set up a free discovery call to see if working together would make the most sense.