Parent to Parent: Sleepy Kids

WSVN -- Fifteen-year-old Jonathan Martinez loves to sleep in, especially over the summer because he can stay up as late as he wants.

Jonathan Martinez: "Maybe two sometimes three if I can sleep in the next day kinda pretty late compared to school."

But with a new school year right around the corner, his day is about to start a lot earlier.

Jonathan Martinez: "The school day starts at around 8 a.m. but some days I'm going to be taking a leadership class, which I think starts at 7 a.m."

That means some mornings he will have to be up very early.

Jonathan Martinez: "It can become problematic if they are staying up very late and then suddenly have to wake up at 5 or 6 a.m. for school starting times."

Dr. Juan Martinez is Jonathan's dad, he knows a lot about sleep issues with kids because he runs the sleep lab at Joe Dimaggio Children's Hospital. His advice to parents, start preparing for school now.

Dr. Juan Martinez: "Start finding a fixed bedtime hour and at the same time start waking them up sooner well before school starts so the adjustment will not be that great."

Dr. Martinez says families need to get back into their school routine now.

Have dinner at the same time you do on normal school nights, then have quiet time in the evenings when kids normally study so they wind down earlier and go to bed earlier, but parents beware: Changing that routine can be a stressful time.

Dr. Juan Martinez: "The struggles in my house are just as bad as anybody's house."

Jonathan's already making some changes to help him wind down at night like turning off the TV and putting away the cell phone.

Jonathan Martinez: "It's no more phone but I have my I-pod with me I can just kinda go over stuff on that."

There is one thing Jonathan thinks will help push him to get out of bed and on his way to school, he just got his learner's permit.

Jonathan Martinez: "That will probably be a good motivation to get me up is to see if I can drive to school and everything. That'll wake me up."

Lynn Martinez: "I'm sure that will keep his parents alert too. Dr. Martinez says teens need about nine to 10 hours of sleep a night, but if they are still tired they may need to see a sleep specialist for an evaluation."

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Sleep Center
Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital
Dr. Juan Martinez
3341 Johnson Street
Hollywood, FL 33021

Tel: (954) 265-6333