JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The school year is right around the corner and now is the time to start breaking those bad habits from summer vacation.
Doctors want to make sure your student is ready to shine on the first day of school. They know how hard it can be to adjust the summer sleep cycle of staying up later and sleeping in can be hard.
It’s the reason why one Jacksonville mother is making sleep adjustments now.
“What we do is we gradually try to start back a little bit earlier. So now we’re at 9:00 and we’re going to push back to 8:30 and then we’re going to get back at 8:00,” said Rae Post, who is soaking up the last days of summer with her 4th grade daughter.
Easy ways to get back in the routine
A sleep deficit at the start of school can be very hard for children to catch up, said Doctor Mary Soha. She adds that sleep-deprived children are usually not able to catch up on sleep until the weekends.
To avoid any problems sleeping, she suggets:
- Gradually adjust sleep schedules at least two weeks before school starts. This allows children to be ready- both mentally and physically by the time school starts back up
- Children should be getting eight to nine hours of sleep a night to make them more alert, inquisitive and ready to listen inside the classroom
- Implement quiet time and shut down all electronics at least two hours before going to bed. The rays can interrupt a child’s sleep cycle.
It’s also good idea to get back into a regular eating schedule.
Dr. Soha says it’s important to get back into the routine of three meals a day. Combining proper nutrition with good sleep is the recipe for success.
Ware County students are one of the first to go back to school. School begins on August 2.
In Northeast Florida, the first wave of students will head back to school on August 10.