调整孩子上学的睡眠时间表

调整孩子上学的睡眠时间表

Attention, parents: It’s 8 p.m. Do you know where your children are? If they’re not in bed, you may be overlooking one of the most important things you can do to prepare your kids for school.

家长们请注意:现在是晚上8点。你知道你的孩子在哪里吗?如果他们不在床上，你可能忽略了你能为孩子上学做的最重要的事情之一。

In the summer, bedtimes can become more fluid, with youngsters staying up later and later. But before school starts, it’s important to establish a bedtime routine that will ensure they get proper rest to prepare them for busy days.

在夏天，孩子们的就寝时间会变得越来越不固定，他们睡得越来越晚。但是在开学之前，制定一个睡觉时间是很重要的，这将确保他们得到适当的休息，为他们忙碌的日子做准备。

Researchers have found that kids need more sleep than adults — lots more — to support their growth and development. The American Academy of Sleep Medicinerecommends that preschoolers get 10 to 13 hours of sleep a day, grade-schoolers get nine to 12 hours and teens sleep eight to 10 hours.

研究人员发现，孩子比成年人需要更多的睡眠——多得多——来确保他们的成长和发展。美国睡眠医学会建议，学龄前儿童每天的睡眠时间为10至13小时，小学生为9至12小时，青少年为8至10小时。

Kids who don’t get enough sleep — even an hour or so less than recommended — may have trouble paying attention, sitting still or keeping their emotions in check at school, says sleep psychologist Lisa J. Meltzer, an associate professor of pediatrics atNational Jewish Health in Denver.

丹佛市国家犹太健康中心，儿科副教授、睡眠心理学家丽莎·J·梅尔策表示，睡眠不足的孩子——即使比建议的睡眠时间少一个小时左右——在学校可能难以集中注意力、保持安静或控制自己的情绪。

“Sleep is just as critical as diet and exercise,” says Meltzer. “We need to make sleep a priority, and often it’s not.”

“睡眠和饮食、锻炼一样重要，”梅尔策说。“我们需要把睡眠放在首位，但往往不是。”

“Twenty years ago, people went to bed earlier,” says Marc Weissbluth, professor emeritus of clinical pediatrics at Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. Yesteryear’s children also spent more time napping.

芝加哥西北大学范伯格医学院临床儿科荣誉退休教授Marc Weissbluth说:“20年前，人们睡得很早。”去年的孩子们也花了更多的时间午睡。

There are many reasons for this, including naps cut short in day care and working parents who postpone bedtime to spend time with their children, says Weissbluth, author of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Another culprit: Many parents are sleep-deprived themselves — getting by on six or seven hours a night — and don’t recognize the condition in their children. Research shows that regular sleep deprivation has serious — and lasting — side effects for kids, including behavioral problems, weight gain, hypertension, headaches and depression.

《健康的睡眠习惯》一书的作者韦斯布鲁斯说，造成这一现象的原因有很多，包括日托时间缩短了午睡时间，以及为了陪伴孩子而推迟就寝时间的在职父母。另一个罪魁祸首是:许多家长自己也缺乏睡眠——每晚只睡6到7个小时——他们没有意识到自己孩子的睡眠状况。研究表明，经常性的睡眠不足会对孩子产生严重而持久的副作用，包括行为问题、体重增加、高血压、头痛和抑郁症。

Kids need to wind down before they sleep, so it’s important to establish a sleep ritual. “Our technology has on/off switches, but our brains have dimmer switches. So, it takes quite a while for our brains to shut down at night,” Meltzer says.

孩子们需要在睡觉前放松下来，所以建立一个睡眠习惯是很重要的。“我们的设备有开/关键，但我们的大脑有更暗的开关。因此，我们的大脑在晚上需要相当长的时间才能关闭，“Meltzer说。

Be aware that sleep habits shift during puberty, so it’s natural for teens to stay up later. A short after-school nap can help teens work more efficiently, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Also, they should steer clear of caffeine-infused drinks late in the day.

注意睡眠习惯在青春期会发生变化，所以青少年熬夜是很自然的。美国国家睡眠基金会表示，放学后小睡片刻可以帮助青少年更有效地工作。此外，他们应该避免在一天的晚些时候喝含有咖啡因的饮料。