Mrs. Thorp’s Third Grade Blog

Now that it is August, parents and children are gearing up for school. Along with buying new school clothes, shoes and school supplies, getting your child back into a bedtime routine is on your list of things to do.

How much sleep does your child need? How can you help your child get to bed on time so that he is ready for school in a few weeks?

First of all it is wise to start a few weeks ahead of time to get your child into that “early to bed, early to rise”mode. Gradually wake your child up 10-15 minutes earlier so that by the time school starts, getting up at 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. is not too hard for them. Once your child starts getting up earlier, he will start going to bed earlier too.

What can you do to help your child?

• Alert your child about an hour before bedtime that he will need to get ready for bed in an hour. Do the same in a half hour.
• Keep a routine. A bath or shower, brush teeth, a quiet board game, reading a book, listening to soothing music are all ways that some parents use to help settle their children so that they sleep. Try to do the same things every night.
• Be consistent with the time your child goes to bed on school nights.
• Avoid caffeine drinks after supper or better yet all together.
• Avoid T.V. watching, video games, and computer before bed. They seem to stimulate rather than calm your child down.

A school age child needs between 9-12 hours a sleep a night. You know your child the best and can usually tell if he needs more. Some signs of not enough sleep may include:

• not wanting to get up in the morning in a happy mood.
• falling asleep after school.
• being too tired in school (ask your child’s teacher).
• being grouchy and hard to get along with.
• falling grades where your child used to do well.

Need more information? You can go to All About Sleep.

Let me know how this works for you.