Health Watch is a Public Service of the Office of News and Publications and is intended to provide general information only and should not replace the advice of a medical professional. You should contact your physician if you have questions about any of these topics.
All those back-to-school sales in the stores are a sure sign that the summer holidays are almost over. This week on Health Watch, we’ll talk about how you and your children can get ready to go back to school. One struggle parents often face at the start of a new school year is getting kids out of bed and ready to go in the morning. After a lazy summer of sleeping in, school mornings seem to start very early.
Dr. John Herman, a pediatric sleep specialist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, says you can help kids adjust by getting them up earlier before the new school year starts. If you just make them go to bed earlier, they won’t be able to get to sleep, but after a few days of getting up early, they’ll be tired enough to go to bed earlier. Shifting a schedule like this is like recovering from jet lag, so children will be more ready for school if you don’t wait for the first day to change wake-up times.
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August 2007
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