TAMPA, Fla. — School is winding down and your kids may be counting down the moments to summer. As we head into the break, doctors are encouraging your family to start thinking about a routine.
School days are pretty structured, with set times for classes, meals and recess. Doctors think carrying over some of that structure into summer will be helpful in terms of a fall transition back into school, as well as providing some consistency.
"It doesn't have to be as strict as it is in school because we still want to have fun and be flexible," explained psychologist, Dr. Wendy Rice.
Crafting a schedule doesn't mean you have to have a regimented learning plan, it just means setting guidelines for wake up, bed and mealtimes. Making sure your kids have pretty regular mealtimes can help them stay energized and hydrated while they're busy having fun in the summer heat.
When you're setting bedtimes and wake times, they don't have to be as early as they are during the school year. The goal is to create a consistent schedule so your kids are not up late and then sleeping late into the morning or even the afternoon.
"You still want your kids to be sleeping and getting up in the morning and that makes for happier, well-adjusted kids who are in decent moods who are also pretty flexible," explained Dr. Rice.
"About 90 percent of kids sleeping enough. Anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of our middle school and adolescent kids are not getting enough sleep year-round and it's only going to get worse as we move into summer," explained Dr. John Prpich, a pediatric pulmonologist at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital. He recommends nine hours a night for teens and nine to 12 hours for kids under 12.
Dr. Prpich offers these other tips as you think about creating your summer routine:
- Add in screen-free time, especially before bed to make it easier to fall asleep.
- Try and pull TVs and computers out of bedrooms to improve sleep quality
- Make sure you encourage at least one hour of physical activity each day
- If your kids have a hard time waking up, sit them by a bright window to enjoy breakfast
- Let your kids nap during the day if they are tired
- Understand children going through puberty will naturally shift their sleep schedules to later at night, which is fine as long as they're getting enough sleep
What other people are reading right now:
- Tuesday marks 1 year since George Floyd's murder: 5 things that have changed
- Central Avenue’s stories: How George Floyd’s death conjures memories of 1967, 2014 deaths of unarmed Black men in Tampa
- Hiring teens is a great asset to one local business
- Tiger seen wandering neighborhood is thriving at new sanctuary home
- Flesh-eating 'black fungus' killing off patients who survived COVID-19
►Breaking news and weather alerts: Get the free 10 Tampa Bay app
►Stay In the Know! Sign up now for the Brightside Blend Newsletter