Tips for getting back into a good sleep schedule

September means getting back into our routines, whether it's back to school or back to work. Andrew Holmes of Sleep Efficiency shares his expertise.

With kids back to school and summer vacations wrapping up, September is a time for getting back into a routine after lengthy days.

Getting a good night’s sleep is important for everyone, Andrew Holmes of Sleep Efficiency told CTV Moring Live on Wednesday.

“I think people are starting to wake up to the fact that it’s a biological necessity. It should be non-negotiable. It should be something that’s prioritized and protected… for every age group and every population, and nobody more so than the younger ones, as they’re going back to school,” he said.

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“It’s something that’s often overlooked. We get a lot of our stats from the States because there’s more research there at the universities, but a lot of the school-aged children and the teenage children are actually under-slept. They’re not getting that nine to 11 hours that they should.”

Holmes says sleep impacts a variety of different systems, but periods of rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep specifically is vital for cognitive restoration.

“It’s responsible for creativity and learning, it’s responsible for memory consolidation, it’s responsible for emotion regulation. All of these things are recovered in REM sleep, so when you’ve got the kids going back to school, they’re sponges, they’re trying to absorb all this information and if they’re not getting not only the quality but the quantity in the evening, they’re really not going to be able to perform at peak performance.”

Here are some tips for ensuring you and your kids get enough healthy sleep.

“Parents need to be role models here, especially for the younger ones,” Holmes says.

Lock the Clock

The first tip is to keep bedtime and waking time consistent.

“If we’re going to get that nine to 11 hours of sleep, going to bed at the same time and getting up at the same time is absolutely crucial. Our sleep cycles become tailored to specific hours. When they’re really young, they want schedule, they want routine and our body still craves that, so really protecting those hours and not letting it waver too much,” he says.

It may be okay to stay up a bit later sometimes, but generally speaking, the more consistent bedtime is, the better sleep will be.

“Continuity is king and it’s paramount to lock into those two times,” says Holmes.

Bedroom = Sleep Zone!

Holmes says the bedroom should be optimized for sleep and used nearly exclusively for that purpose/

“When you get to the bedroom, it should be for sleep only,” he says.

For young kids and teens, it can be difficult because the bedroom is also their private space, but Holmes says removing some distractions from the bedroom can help make it a sleeping space, primarily.

“If you can remove one or two things, getting the homework out of the bedroom and doing that in a common place, so when the body gets to the bedroom, it’s not associated with anything other than sleep,” he says.

Lowering the temperature of the bedroom can also help.

“Our body’s core temperature wants to drop a degree or two in order to initiate and maintain sleep,” says Holmes. “We really want to have a cool bedroom at night, maybe 65 degrees or so (18 C)… and that’s an easy fix, that’s a thermostat switch, so that’s a quick hack that you can implement.”

Fuel Smart

Nutrition also plays a role in a healthy sleep schedule. In particular, Holmes says to be very careful with caffeine.

“For the school-aged children, that’s not the coffees, but maybe it’s the energy drinks,” he says. “Caffeine has a half-life of five hours. If the kids are having a caffeinated drink at 5 o’clock in the evening, 50 per cent of that caffeine is going to be in their system at 10 o’clock at night when they’re trying to go to bed… I would say nothing after noon or 1 o’clock, if at all.”

Active Days = Restful Nights

Getting a lot of exercise is not only helpful for one’s overall health, but also helps with sleep, says Holmes.

“The more exercise we get, the deeper stages of sleep we’re going to get into. That deep sleep is responsible for the physical restoration. Growth hormone is released; muscle and tissue regeneration take place,” he says.

Ensuring kids get as much physical activity and exercise throughout the course of the daytime will allow them to fall asleep faster and deeper.

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“Outside play, if you can, exposing yourself to that daylight if you can. Rigorous exercise, vigorous exercise and it will definitely help that whole sleep stability,” says Holmes.

Ottawa Public Health also offers other tips for getting a good night’s sleep:

• Offer a healthy snack a half hour before bedtime
• Create a quiet, predictable and short - 30 minutes - bedtime routine
• Avoid TV, other electronics and stimulating activities for at least one hour before bed
• Ensure a quiet dark environment for sleep
• Avoid using bedtime as a punishment