"WAKE UP, SLEEPYHEAD."

Sleepyhead, indeed. For kids everywhere, summertime means three months of staying up late and sleeping in. But for many school-aged children, the transition from summer to school sleeping schedules makes for some rough days in the classroom.

Ken Webster, who teaches social studies to seventh- and eighth-graders at Marticville Middle School in Pequea, says it's easy to see that kids aren't getting enough sleep when they return to school from summer vacation. "The first week you don't notice as much. The students are not yet into a routine," he explains. "By the second and third week, the kids are dragging. You see them yawning in the beginning classes. My personal opinion is that they are going to bed too late." 

According to the National Sleep Foundation's 2006 poll, school-aged kids get one and a half hours less than the recommended 10 to 11 hours of sleep per night. And only 20 percent of adolescents get the recommended nine hours of sleep on school nights. In fact, nearly half of all adolescents polled slept less than eight hours on school nights.

During the summer, kids have the luxury of sleeping in, which can allow them to get their recommended hours of sleep, despite staying up late. The problem arises when summertime habits aren't changed. Kids who are accustomed to going to bed late may find it difficult to fall asleep early enough to adjust for their new morning wake-ups time. And parents often find out too late that turning back bedtimes doesn't happen overnight.

"We see it a lot," Dr. Stacie Marrie, of Grace Pediatrics in Lititz, says. During the start-of-school season, she will bring up the subject of sleep with parents, who are often unaware that their child may be suffering from the lack of it. "Parents recognize the results of the problem," she explains, but not necessarily the source of the problem. "When we recommend a strategy [for better sleep], parents are like, 'Oh!' "

Dr. Marrie advises parents to make the transition to earlier bed and wakeup times gradual, starting with an earlier morning wakeup and followed that evening with an equally earlier bedtime. "We recommend starting one to two weeks out. It's not easy to change that cycle more than 15-30 minutes at a time," she says. After experimenting with an earlier sleep time for a few days, she tells parents to adjust the time again for several days, until the optimal bed and wakeup times are reached.

"We would wait too late to start getting the kids into bed early," Laura Wash, of Lititz, says, recalling her children's transition to an earlier bedtime before school. "We'd start a few days before [the first day of school] and it wasn't soon enough."

When it's light out late, she reasons, it's harder to get the kids to think about sleeping. This year she plans on starting the transition earlier. "We've already told them that starting next week, we're going to change our routine. This way, they won't think that going to bed early is some kind of punishment, and they have time to think about the changes coming up."

Getting your child to fall asleep early may be difficult; convincing your child to accept this change of routine can be even harder. Bonnie Harris, M.S.Ed., child behavior specialist and author of the upcoming book "Confident Parents, Remarkable Kids: 8 Principles to Raising Kids You'll Love to Live With," advises parents to not be afraid to let their child be a part of the conversation when discussing a new bedtime routine.

"Bedtime routines are huge," Harris declares. "Spend a good hour to read, brush teeth, get into pajamas." And, she says, sit down and talk with your child. "It's the richest part of the day for children and a great time to open up."

Here are a few tips in smoothing the transition to an earlier bedtime:

  • Make the transition gradual, starting a few weeks out from the first day of school and slowly  adjusting bedtimes by 15- to 30-minute increments.
  • Keep your transitional efforts consistent, going to bed and waking up early, even on the weekends.
  • Establish a regular bedtime routine that begins well before you want your child to actually be asleep.
  • Limit caffeine intake, especially after lunchtime.
  • Insist that all electronics - TV, computer, iPods - are turned off prior to climbing into bed.

... And several more to help your morning run smoothly:

  • Prepare as much as possible the night before: Pick out the next day's clothes, pack backpacks, make lunches, shower/bath.
  • Create a new rule that the TV does not get turned on in the morning until everyone is completely ready for school.
  • Make an enjoyable and nourishing breakfast, but don't ask your kids what they want to eat.  Differing opinions could lead to sibling arguments.
  • If you're on the receiving end of your child's anger when you wake him/her, use an alarm clock instead. That way, you can avoid starting off on the wrong foot with each other by throwing the negativity at an inanimate object.