Consistency may be the “secret sauce” in parenthood. Anything from helping children survive temper tantrums to helping your children eat more diverse foods, providing consistency with expectations and daily routines may be the very special thing we do that allows our children to thrive. Like most challenges in life, talking about and identifying the need for consistency is easy, implementing it throughout our daily lives is much more of a challenge. Finding and securing a consistent bedtime is one place where this “secret sauce” may really work. New data on sleep patterns for young children drives this point home. Getting your children to bed at the same time each night is powerful.
A study out today in Pediatrics evaluated data from over 10,000 children in the UK. As a part of a larger study (UK Millennium Cohort Study) researchers collected bedtime data at age 3, 5, and 7 years for children. They found children with nonregular bedtimes had more behavioral difficulties. Further, as children progressed through childhood there was incremental worsening in children’s behavior scores as they were exposed to more and more inconsistent bedtimes.
Behavior And Children’s Sleep:
- Sleep schedules are clearly shaped by many influences–a family’s routine, their activities, their employment, their dinnertime, and their socioeconomic situation change what time children get off to bed each night. In the Pediatrics study researchers found that children without regular bedtimes and those with late bedtimes (after 9pm) had more socially disadvantaged situations–ie they were more likely to be from the poorest homes, have parents without advanced school degrees and have mothers with poor mental health. Children with late or inconsistent bedtimes were also more likely to skip breakfast, not have stories read to them, and have a TV in their bedroom compared with their peers.
- Lack of sleep influences behavior. It’s certainly well established that sleep deprivation makes it challenging for children to function, regular their mood and their temper. Our children clearly play this scientific fact out for us when we stretch them!
- Poor sleep & behavior: chicken or the egg? Research has not entirely teased out the relationship with fractured or challenged sleep — is it that poor sleep leads to worse behavior or children with behavior challenges also have a difficult time sleeping? Lots of variables at play here.
- Without consistent bedtime routines and bedtimes inconsistency can disrupt circadian rhythm and can make children more sleep deprived (less sleep in total is often observed in children who go to bed at different times each night).
Pediatrics Study on Bedtime Consistency & Behavior Challenges
- Over 10,000 children were tracked from 9 months of age up to age 7 years. Children with diagnosed ADHD, autism, or Asperger syndrome were excluded from the study.
- Method: Researchers charted children’s bedtime (as reported by their family) & behavior scores from a mother’s report and teacher’s report based on what time they went to bed. Researchers used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at age 7. Bedtimes were reported at 30 minute intervals (before 7:30pm, between 7:30 and 8pm up until 9:00pm or later) throughout childhood (age 3, 5, and 7 years). Parents could also report not having a regular bedtime.
- Results: children without regular bedtimes had more behavior problems as indicated by both mother’s and teacher’s reports on the SDQ.
- Dose dependent response: the data from the study found that the worse the consistency in bedtime routine, the worse the behavioral scores for children at age 7 years. For example, there was a doubling in the magnitude of effect for each increase in exposure to nonregular bedtimes. Basically, the more consistent you are with bedtimes, the less likely your child will have behavioral problems. And the good news: the better you make bedtime consistency as time goes on, the better the behavioral outcomes will potentially be.
- Reversible: if routines improved around bedtime, behaviors improved too. For children who went from not having regular bedtimes to having more consistent bedtimes over the years, researchers saw improvements in behavioral scores as children aged. Researchers wrote, “For children who changed from not having regular bedtimes to having them there were improvements in behavioral scores, and for children who changed from having to not having regular bedtimes, there is some evidence for a worsening in behavior. The size of the effect was non-trivial.”
Tips For Improving Your Sleep Routine:
- Setting regular bedtime early in childhood is important. From the very beginning of infancy (at 1-2 months of age) we give our children the chance to learn to fall asleep on their own and start to expect a routine or pattern around bedtime. As they move through toddlerhood and young childhood, we want to set them up for success with the same bedtime each and every night. This is just another place where consistency is essential.
- Without a reliable and regular bedtime routine, children may disrupt natural circadian rhythms. In addition, sleep deprivation is more likely in children whose bedtimes move all around. Pick a time that works for your family (7:30, 8:00, or 8:30pm) for bedtime and do your best to stick to it every day of the week.
- No TV in bedroom. Screentime and TV viewing before bed certainly disrupt your child’s ability to fall asleep. Devices like smartphones and tablets will also make it harder for children to fall asleep. Although up to 30-40% of young children have TVs in their bedrooms in the US, we have to work to break the habit (from the very beginning) of letting children sleep with screens.
- Most children under age 12 naturally get tired around 8pm. That natural rise in melatonin, the hormone that allows our brains to chill-out and drift off to sleep, is typically bounding around 8pm until children enter puberty. Use the melatonin spike to your advantage and set bedtime around 8pm if you can. The use of natural cues like winding down activities (reading), bath, and blocking out light also help children establish a daily bedtime.
Secret sauce, see?
Paul Schoenfeld PhD says
I agree! Consistency and predictability are the secret sauce for calm, relaxed, and centered kids. They know what to expect. They know that “yes” always means “yes” and “no” always means “no”. Children love predictability!
Dr. Paul
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, MBE says
Yes, predictability is key! The children who need it most show that to us when we fail them….learned the hard way around here 🙂