5 tips to adjust the sleep schedule for back-to-school

Back-to-school sleep Paediatric Sleep Expert Erin Junker from the Happy Sleep Company gives some tips on how to adjust your kids' sleep schedules.

With the first day of school now one or two weeks away for students in Ottawa and eastern Ontario, it's time to start back-to-school preparations.

Happy Sleep Company founder Erin Junker says those preparations should include setting new sleep schedules for the school year after a summer of staying up late and sleeping in.

Junker appeared on CTV Morning Live to share 5 tips to prepare your child's sleep schedule for back to school.

Start the adjustment early

Junker says it is important to start the back-to-school sleep adjustment a week or two before school begins if you've gotten off track with bedtimes and wake up times during the summer, instead of waiting until the weekend before the first day of school.

"Normally what I am suggesting is you try to encourage your child to go to bed, maybe, 15 minutes earlier for the next few nights then they have during the summer," Junker says. "And then for another few nights another 15 minutes earlier until you get to the point where it would be their normal school year bedtime. You're also pulling the morning wake up time 15 minutes earlier, if you have a child who has been sleeping in in the mornings."

Junker says if you have older children who have been sleeping in all summer, it's important to adjust the wake up schedule ahead of the school year.

"You probably want to pull back that morning wake up time if your child's school is going to be starting between 8 and 9 a.m. and that's when they've been sleeping until."

Stick to the back-to-school schedule

Junker says once you establish the back-to-school sleep schedule, it's important not to have a separate schedule for weekends in the fall.

"Often we're tempted to get it back on track with a schedule in the fall for Monday to Friday, and then keep our kids up late on the weekends thinking, 'Oh, they'll sleep in. They'll catch up,'" Junker tells CTV Morning Live.

"Especially for younger children, their body clocks generally won't accommodate that, they won't just sleep in in the morning's because you kept them up late at night, so then they just end, up really tired.

"Try to stick to the same sort of bedtime and wake up schedule, as much as you can, seven days a week and not try and catch up on sleep on the weekends because most young children won't catch up on that sleep."

Establish a regular bedtime routine

The founder of the Happy Sleep Company says a bedtime routine is important for adults and children.

"Start a bedtime routine, especially for your children, half-an-hour before you want them to be in the bed," Junker says.

"You want to establish some good cues for sleep; sleep time is arriving soon. A bath or a shower is a great idea; a great way to start a bedtime routine and help their body clock just understand sleep time is arriving soon.

"For older children, they might just have an established reading time, but then make sure you have that established bedtime where you cut off the books."

Turn off the technology!

Junker recommends turning off the technology as part of the bedtime routine, and keeping it out of the bedroom.

"We want to avoid screen time at least an hour before you're going to bed," Junker says.

"That's for children and grown-ups too, try to avoid screens at least an hour before you plan on hitting the hay because the bright lights emitted from those can really inhibit the production of melatonin which is the naturally occurring hormone that helps us fall asleep."

Junker recommends a rule of no technology in the child's bedroom, and all phones need to be kept in a separate area at bedtime.

"They stay somewhere else in the house so they're not tempted to pull them out and then be staring at the screen when they should be getting some rest."

Do not overschedule

Fall includes back-to-school, as well as other activities like sports, swimming lessons, dance lessons, and other activities. Junker says it's important to keep sleep schedules in mind when scheduling activities.

"It's so hard to not overschedule, but really try to look at what your child's age appropriate bedtime should be and then work backwards from that to fit in family time, dinner time, activities in the evenings," Junker says.

"If you have a younger child that needs to go to bed between 7 and 8 p.m., you probably want to look at those swim lessons and soccer practices on weekends during the day instead of those 6 and 7 p.m. soccer practices, because that's probably when your kindergartener needs to be going to bed."