Question: I'm worried that my two children in elementary school might not be getting enough sleep at night, with everything from homework to sports practice to do. They usually get between seven and eight hours of sleep every night. Is this enough? - Wondering
Answer: You might be surprised to learn that your children are sleep-deprived. Children in elementary school should have from nine to 10 hours of sleep per night. Furthermore, the effects of not getting enough sleep night after night accumulate and can even cause children to have problems in school. Teachers are seeing more and more children dozing off in class. Plus, the Association of Elementary School Principals reports that sleep-deprived children can't concentrate on their schoolwork, have trouble remembering things, might become irritable and fidgety, and might be more vulnerable to colds and flu.
Today, a major reason for children staying up too late is increased demands on their time. Your children might be involved in too many activities. Also, you should determine if they are being assigned too much homework. Children in elementary school should usually have about 10 minutes of homework for every year in school. For example, a fourth-grader should be expected to spend about 40 minutes on homework each night.
Besides making sure that your children are not overwhelmed with activities and homework, set a bedtime and wake-up-time schedule that ensures they'll get enough sleep. Then have them avoid exercise and soft drinks with caffeine close to their bedtimes so they'll find it easier to go to sleep. Reading to your children is another good way to help them relax and fall asleep.
You need to realize that part of the reason your children are staying up later might be physiological. As children move through elementary school, they will naturally fall asleep later, even if they have the same bedtimes. This is especially true when they enter puberty.