printOverscheduled Kids

School-age children, ages 5 to 12, require 10-11 hours of sleep. During this age, most children are also experiencing increasing demand on their time from school, in the form of homework, sports and other extracurricular and social activities. They also become more interested in TV shows, using computers, the media and Internet as well as caffeinated products. This all can add up to difficulties falling asleep, nightmares and disruptions to their sleep. For example, watching TV close to the bedtime hour has been associated with bedtime resistance, difficulty falling asleep, anxiety around sleep and sleeping fewer hours.

Recognizing when your child is overscheduled
Kids who spend more time in extracurricular activities at the expense of sleep time simply do not perform as they should. It should be clear that lack of sleep compromises many of the skills that make for academic success - attention, organization, creative thinking, and efficiency. It also erodes the motivation that kids have to do well in the first place. Furthermore, without some wind-down time in the evening, the expectation that kids can easily go from full-throttle, 100km-an-hour-active to all-of-a-sudden-fast-asleep is not only unrealistic but may contribute to some serious difficulties in their ability to fall asleep.

Make compromises when it comes to your child's extracurricular activities instead of when it comes to sleep. There are no easy choices. Ask yourself if you might be giving a subconscious but nonetheless crystal-clear message to your child that (a) getting enough sleep is optional, (b) you would be willing to sacrifice sleep for the possibility of long-term academic gains and (c) you don't get a lot of sleep so they don't need to either.

Sleep Tips for School-age Children