Health Notes: Back to School and
Sleeping Tips
By Janice Petersen, Parish Nurse
It’s that time of year again to get your kids back into the school routine which also usually means a new sleep routine. Kids need to switch to an earlier morning rising time that comes with the start of school and is a source frustration for parents.
Getting kids to bed at a decent hour can be met with fits of refusal. Even though we all know that a good night’s sleep is important for the kids and helps them perform better in the classroom. School aged children who got the recommended 11 hours per night of sleep performed better in school when their parents enforced regular bedtimes. Kids who used technology late into the night had more difficulty concentrating and staying awake and alert in the classroom.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that children of the following ages get these amounts of sleep: Infants 14-15 hours; Toddlers 12-14; Preschoolers 11-13 hours; School-age 10-11 hours; Teenagers 9-10 hours. If your child won’t sleep at bedtime it may be a sleep hygiene issue. Nearly a quarter of children have some kind of sleep complaint, whether its outright refusal to sleep or frequent trips to the bathroom.
Other tips for helping kids get a good night sleep:
Avoid TV, video games, cell phones and other “screen activities” 1 hour before bed
Avoid drinks and food that contain caffeine
Too much or too little light, heat, cold or noise
Set a regular bedtime and stick with it, even on weekends. Staying up late on weekends throws off a child’s internal body clock making it difficult to get up early on weekdays
Do not keep a TV or other electronics in a child’s room, or have them get in the habit of having to go to sleep with the TV on This information was collected from the National Sleep Foundation and The American Academy of Sleep Medicine. For more information on this or other sleep issues visit their web sites at: http://www.sleepeducation.com/index.aspx or http://www.sleepforkids.org/index.html.
Helping to Keep Kids Healthy during School
Returning to school is the return to increased exposure to germs. While not every germ kids come in contact with will make them sick, teaching your kids to adopt a few healthy habits will help prevent the spread of those germs that do cause sickness. Henry the Hand is a program designed for kids to remember back infection control guidelines. The basic principles are:
1. Wash your hands when they are dirty before eating
2. DO NOT cough into your hands
3. DO NOT sneeze into your hands
4. Above all, DO NOT put your fingers into your eyes, nose or mouth.
For more information on Henry the Hand, you will see posters around the church for the kids and you can visit the website at: http://www.henrythehand.com/pages/content/index.html.
