Tackling the back-to-school blues is essential when re-establishing your child’s routine.
Most children have been on holiday since late November, and with all the festivities, routines have probably flown right out the window. If you’ve allowed your little ones to stay up later and sleep in longer than usual, then you might find yourself with a struggle on your hands when getting them back into a normal routine.
Here are a few tips on how to bridge the gap from holiday chaos back to school-ready structure without the stress.
Start immediately
Human bodies run on internal clocks. If your child has spent the holidays waking up at 10 am, their brain won’t automatically adjust to a 6 am alarm.
A sudden change in waking-up times causes your child to end up feeling exhausted and cranky. As a result, they will struggle to concentrate and their mood will suffer.
Ease them slowly
To try and fix their sleep schedule is to ease them into the 15-minute rule. Wake your children up 15 minutes earlier than they normally wake up when on holiday, and put them to bed 15 minutes earlier at night.
If you do this every day between now and when school starts, you will gently shift their internal clock back to normal. This gives their bodies time to adjust.
Limit screen time
The hardest part for many children will be giving up their screen time. Most parents are relaxed with tablets and TVs during the holidays, but the blue light makes it harder for the brain to switch off. Try to have all devices turned off at least an hour before the new bedtime.
Sleep is the biggest hurdle for your children, but the morning flow is a close second. So over the next few days, reintroduce the steps of a typical school morning to make things easier.
Also see: What is core sleep and why it’s needed to classify a good nights rest
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