Moving bedtime back to a school schedule

Summer bedtimes tend to drift later, and the first school morning comes fast. You can move your child back to school hours by shifting bedtime and wake-up time in small steps over one or two weeks. Work out the size of the shift, follow a day-by-day plan, and move the evening routine earlier along with the new times.

Follow your doctor's advice on how much sleep your child needs. The steps below are about moving the schedule, whatever the right amount is for your child.

Work out how far you need to move

Write down three times:

1. The school wake-up time. Work back from when you need to leave the house. If you leave at 7:45 and your child needs 45 minutes to dress, eat and get out the door, the wake-up time is 7:00.
2. The school bedtime. Count back from the wake-up time by the amount of sleep your child needs.
3. Your child's current bedtime and wake-up time. Use what actually happens this week.

The gap between the current and school times is the shift you need. A gap of 30 minutes can close in a few days. A gap of 90 minutes or more needs the full two weeks.

Move in 15-minute steps

Move both bedtime and wake-up time earlier by about 15 minutes, hold each new time for two or three days, then move again.

A sample plan for a child whose summer bedtime is 9:00 and school bedtime is 7:30, with a wake-up moving from 8:30 to 7:00:

Start the plan about two weeks before the first day of school. If you're starting later, move by 15 minutes every day instead of every two or three.

Wake your child at the planned time each morning, including weekends. The morning time moves the schedule more reliably than the evening one. A child who wakes at 7:15 is usually ready for sleep earlier that night.

Change the evening, too

An earlier bedtime holds only if the hour before it changes as well. Move the whole evening routine earlier along with the bedtime.

For each step in the plan:

• Move dinner earlier by the same 15 minutes.
• Start the bath or wash-up earlier.
• Turn screens off at least an hour before the new bedtime.
• Dim the lights in the main rooms after dinner. Use lamps instead of overhead lights.
• Keep the same order every night, such as bath, pajamas, teeth, two books, lights out.

Summer evenings stay light late. Blackout curtains or a dark blind in your child's room help a lot at the start of the school year.

Let your child do as much of the routine on their own as they can. A four-year-old can choose pajamas from a drawer they can reach, put dirty clothes in a basket and pick the books for the night. Children in a Montessori classroom practice these practical life tasks every day.

Mornings that match

The new wake-up time works better when the morning has a clear shape. Use the practice weeks to try the real school morning:

1. Open the curtains as soon as your child wakes. Morning light helps set the body clock.
2. Eat breakfast at the time you will on school days.
3. Get dressed and put on shoes, as if you're leaving.
4. Go outside for a short walk or to play in the yard.

By the last few days, run the whole morning at school pace, including getting in the car or walking to the corner at departure time.

When the plan slips

Some nights your child won't fall asleep at the new time. Keep the routine the same and the room quiet, and stay calm. Don't move the bedtime later to match. Keep the next morning's wake-up time and the plan will usually catch up within a day or two.

If a late event or travel throws off a few days, go back one step in the plan and continue from there.

If your child is still having trouble falling asleep or waking after the first few weeks of school, talk to your child's doctor.