Posted on 09/13/2017
Does it really matter what time your kids go to bed? Yes and no. Many sleep experts recommend a bedtime of 8 p.m. or earlier for toddlers and preschoolers, 9 p.m. or earlier for school-aged children, and 10 p.m. or earlier for teens. Theoretically, it would be better for a child to have a midnight bedtime and get up at noon, as opposed to going to bed at 8 p.m. and getting up at 5 a.m. While getting enough sleep is more important than the time you choose to make "bedtime," having a designated bedtime is important for your child's health, both now and in the future.
Bedtime vs. Amount of Sleep
While bedtime may not be as important as the amount of sleep a child gets each night, the fact remains that the earlier your child goes to bed, the more likely he or she is to get the recommended amount of sleep each night. The current recommendations are as follows:
• Babies: 12-16 hours
• Toddlers: 11-14 hours
• Preschoolers: 10-13 hours
• School-aged Children: 9-12 hours
When it comes to getting healthy sleep, it's not just quantity but also quality that counts. The later a child goes to bed, the more tired he or she is likely to become. If your child must wake up at a specific time for daycare, school, or some other reason, then the bedtime you choose must correspond to that wake time. Without a bedtime that's early enough, children easily become overtired.
Overtired kids can become hyperactive, making getting to sleep more difficult. The result is getting up without being rested in the morning, which leads to becoming overtired again, and the vicious process continues.
Perhaps even more important than exactly when you choose your child's bedtime to be is how routine it is. Bedtimes should not fluctuate between weekdays and weekends or a child's negotiations. You might even consider setting an alarm 30 minutes or so before bedtime to signal when it's time to begin the bedtime routine.
Bedtime and Overall Health
Health benefits of getting enough sleep on a regular basis are well documented and extend into adulthood. Children who get enough sleep enjoy better math fluency, emotional functioning, and memory than they do without getting enough sleep. Teens who go to bed earlier enjoy a greater degree of mental health and are less likely to have suicidal thoughts or experience the depression plaguing many of their peers with later bedtimes or no bedtimes at all. It's easy to see how those issues alone can have results that reach into adulthood.
Another potential consequence of staying up late and/or not getting enough sleep is obesity, along with the many health issues that accompany that condition. Part of the reason for the relationship between the two is that lack of sleep causes a change in the hormones that control metabolism and appetite. Another part is that staying up later means more of a chance for snacking — often the result of TV commercials that advertise for snack foods.
The Bedroom Source
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Contact the friendly staff at The Bedroom Source by calling (516) 248-0600 or by submitting our online contact form. We're a local family owned mom & pop store. When you shop with us, you're dealing directly with the owners. We professionally assemble everything we sell. We deliver to Nassau, Suffolk, the 5 Boroughs, Southern Westchester, Southwestern Connecticut & Northern New Jersey.