Back-To-School Sleeping Tips on Texas Public Radio

They'll put any Houston pediatric neurologist the radio on a slow news day.
Back-To-School Sleeping Tips on Texas Public Radio

With the first day of school right around the corner, parents are trying to get their kids back on a school-year sleeping schedule. Texas Public Radio’s Eileen Pace reports it’s not too late to get some use out of the tips from a local sleep expert.

August 18, 2011 · Dr. Josh Rotenberg says kids sleep when they get sleepy during the summer — sometimes 11:00 or midnight — and then sleep late the next morning.

“When kids have social constraints removed from them, they live naturally. They’re like free-range chickens,” Rotenberg says.

In fact, he says those studies showing kids have a later wake-up clock than adults do are true.

“What’s really interesting is that I see over the summer many fewer kids for headaches and ticks because I think kids are allowed to sleep longer over the summer. And there are a number of studies that show that a delayed school start time — so when you move a school start time in high school from 7:30 to 9:00 — grades go up,” Rotenberg says.

Schools generally have not pushed back their start times.