Ask the Pediatrician: Dr. Molly

Category: Sleep

Sleep solutions for school-aged kids

How much sleep do kids need? About a third of our lives are spent asleep and the amount and quality of that sleep is essential to a sense of well being, immune system function and school and sports performance.

Whenever I do a checkup I talk about sleep. There are lots of barriers to good sleep including homework, TV, texting, chatting, after school and evening activities and video games. Others kids have difficulty falling asleep, snoring, frequent night waking and lack of a nighttime routine with a consistent bedtime.

Kids aged 6-9 need about 10 hours of sleep, children 10-12 need on average a little more than nine hours each night and teenagers need about eight-nine and a half hours of good quality sleep to ensure a sharp mind and healthy body. Not all kids fit these guidelines but most do and it is a good place to start.

Children and teens who routinely get fewer hours of sleep than they need may appear unfocused or hyper, have difficulty focusing in school and/or have periods of excessive sleepiness during the day. Many kids who aren't getting enough sleep will have more illnesses than their healthy sleeping peers and are more likely to be overweight because sleep deprivation results in carbohydrate cravings. So there are many good reasons to encourage healthy sleep.

Here are strategies to help your child get the sleep he needs:

Make sure all media (TVs, phones, computers, iPods, etc.) are off about a half hour before bedtime. Try to have the same bedtime each night with minor variations when needed and keep the wakeup times about the same, too, which will create a rhythm in the body to ready it for sleep naturally. Some kids benefit from light reading or listening to instrumental music as they wind down to go to sleep. Even relaxation techniques can be helpful. Recent data suggests online cognitive behavioral therapy when used in adults can work almost as well as medication at improving symptoms of insomnia.

Some kids will still have trouble falling asleep at an appropriate time despite these things and as such may benefit from a natural product called melatonin. Prepubertal kids can take 1-3 mg and while teenagers will need the whole 3 mg. Melatonin is great because it is natural and doesn't act the way a sleeping pill would. It merely sends the message to the brain that it is time to release the hormone that quiets the body and brain and readies it for sleep. It cannot be addictive nor can you develop a dependency on it. It doesn't change your sleep cycles and as such you wake as refreshed as you always would.

Some kids don't have trouble falling asleep, but have trouble staying asleep either because they are snoring and having intermittent waking as a result, are over-caffeinated or are having emotional issues that are impairing sleep. When snoring is the cause, seeing an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist for evaluation is very important. Removing tonsils and adenoids when needed can result in dramatic changes in behavior, school performance and even eliminate bed wetting for some kids. For those kids with frequent waking due to stress, depression or emotional challenges, addressing these head-on can often have significant improvements in sleep quality relatively quickly.

It may be that with some minor adjustments the eight or more hours of sleep your child needs is within your grasp.