Bedtimes Crucial to Kids' Well-Being

by Melissa Kossler Dutton (Subscribe to Melissa Kossler Dutton's posts) Oct 5th 2009 4:03PM

Categories: Preschoolers, Safety, Resources, Bedtime

Consistent sleep patterns make kids healthier, says study. Credit: FranK!eCa!, Flickr

Set bedtimes do more for children than ensure a good night's rest -- they make kids healthier, a new study suggests.

"Bedtimes are good for sleep, and sleep is good for healthy children," researcher Lauren Hale told ParentDish.

Hale recently studied the bedtime routines of 3-year-olds and concluded that health educators should do more to encourage parents to establish bedtimes and bedtime routines.

The study published online in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics found that children from disadvantaged households are less likely to have consistent bedtimes than their peers in advantaged households.

"What we find is that disadvantaged populations or lower-education populations have worse health outcomes and it turns out they have worse sleep problems," Hale told CNN.com.

Bedtime routines -- reading, bathing and singing -- are important because they help children fall asleep faster and sleep better, said Hale, an assistant professor of preventative health at Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York.

And a better night's sleep means better health and grades, said Dr. William Cotton, medical director of the primary care network at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He encourages parents to establish and enforce bedtimes.

"You need to give children all the advantages you can," he said. "It's all part of good health."

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Comments (6)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Elizabeth 10-05-2009 @ 10:42PM

I couldn't agree more. I can't tell you how much it bothers me when I go to Wal-Mart late at night (to avoid the crowds) and see children with their parents.

Children are creatures of habit, and when they have bedtimes and bedtime routines and know what is expected of them, there are less fights and tantrums (less, not none--anyone can have a bad day). As a nanny, I can tell you that the kids who had set bedtime routines--ie, dinner, bath, story, then bed--were a lot better behaved and easier to put to bed than the kids who just had bedtimes--ie, go to bed at nine o'clock. From my experience, the routines help the kids wind down from the day, and they are usually tired by the time they are to go to sleep instead of all wound up. It is also easier to wake them up in the morning for school

momofone 10-06-2009 @ 2:37PM

As a nanny can you give me a little suggestion? My son has ADHA. I have always given him his bath, then read a story, then put him to bed at 8pm. But, the bath and the story do not calm him in anyway. Although he does go to bed, but it takes him anywhere from 1/2 hour to a hour to go to sleep. Is there anything I'm missing?

Elizabeth 10-07-2009 @ 3:31AM

Momofone,

Is your son very physically active during the day? A lot of the time I find if kids aren't tired at night it's because they haven't done enough physical activity during the day. What I do with a lot of my kids is when we get done with homework, we will run around the yard for a while, or ride bikes, or just take a walk. I find that getting their bodies tired helps a lot.

If that doesn't work, sometimes leaving on a story CD (like those Disney ones) with the lights off will lull your child to sleep. Just like adults, if kids get in the mindset of "I have to go to sleep now" they find it harder to do so. Giving them something else to focus on might do the trick.

And then, there are some children that just physically can't sleep at night. I've suffered from insomnia since I was 5 years old. What worked for me was just leaving the TV on until I fell asleep, but I don't really recommend that as a first choice. But if it works for you, then by all means do it. Good Luck!

Lisa 10-27-2009 @ 4:18PM

To add to your comments for Momofone:

My son required physical therapy for 3 years. His PT also observed that he might have a mild sensory disorder - light sleeper, restless, sensitive to loud sounds - which may have been due to his premature birth. Anyway, what he recommended was laying something with weight on top of him when he slept -- I don't mean weights or anything that would hurt him -- just something that would make him feel physically secure. My son, all on his own when he was 2 found comfort by having a pillow laying across his body (not on his head or face, but from his chest down). When he started doing that, I observed that he slept more soundly and resftully. He's almost 4 now, and he doesn't do that anymore b/c (as his PT predicted) he grew out of it.

He and his 2 yr old brother have always been on a good schedule of dinner, playtime or brief t.v. time, bath, storytime/mom-time, and bedtime. Neither give me a problem b/c my hubby & I work hard to keep up the routine. I do find that my kids seem happy and well-adjusted overall.

Stuart Kaplowitz 11-25-2009 @ 6:23PM

I cannot stress consistency with bedtime enough. The reality is that kids needs more sleep than they tend to get. Sleep equals more than just rest; it means rejuvention.