With the kids now back at school after the summer holidays it’s estimated that approximately 49% of parents will be struggling to get their children back to a ‘school sleeping’ routine. On average it will take them seven days to revert their kids back to an ‘early to bed programme’.

A recent poll of over 3,000 parents revealed that 42% of adults don’t know how much sleep their children should be getting and on average 44% of parents are sending their children to bed between 9pm – 12.00 am on a school night. One in five parents said that they are constantly arguing with their children over bed time and 47% of parents confirmed in the study that the subject of ‘going to bed’ causes chaos in their household.

9% of parents who took part in the research also admitted to using ‘staying up after bed time’ as a bargaining tool to get their children to help out with various household chores, with the most popular being washing up closely followed by cleaning their room or eating vegetables.

The most popular excuses children seem to use for negotiating extra ‘staying up time’ seem to be; wanting to watch a specific television programme, having homework to do, needing to have a shower/bath, being hungry and thirsty and wanting to read for a bit longer.

The research also revealed that 87% of parents think children nowadays go to bed later than they themselves did as children. Furthermore, 75% of adults agreed that sleeping patterns that are endorsed during childhood affect your perception and importance of sleep in adulthood.

Further findings revealed that more than one in ten parents freely admitted that they don’t take responsibility for ensuring their children go to bed at a decent time each day with 23% of the parents quizzed admitting that they would happily go to sleep first if their children were refusing to go to bed.

The study also showed that children’s bedrooms are changing from places of rest and tranquility to places where there were lots of things to keep them awake. 53% of the parents asked said their children have a TV, DVD player and games console in their bedroom and 38% of the parents also confirmed that they do not read their children a bedtime story.

So, how do we get them to get the correct amount of sleep?

Establish a regular time for bed each night and don’t vary from it.

Create a relaxing bedtime routine, give your child a warm bath/ shower.

Make bedtime fun – read a story to your child.

Don’t give your child any food or drinks that contain caffeine prior to bedtime.

Avoid giving your child large meals close to bedtime.

Make after-dinner playtime a relaxing time as too much activity close to bedtime can keep a child awake.

Exercise should be included in your child’s day to help them sleep well.

There should be no television or music playing while your child is going to sleep.

Ensure the temperature in your child’s bedroom is comfortable.

Make sure the noise level in the house is low.

Infants and children should be put to bed when they appear tired but still awake. (rather than falling asleep in their parents arms or in another room)