SAN ANTONIO – Are your children getting enough sleep? If you’re a parent, you probably know that getting the kids to bed is not always an easy task. Add the coronavirus pandemic, and you’re in for a real challenge.
Dr. Samiya Ahmad is a pediatric neurologist and sleep medicine physician at The Children’s Hospital in San Antonio and Baylor College of Medicine. She said when the pandemic began, the number of patients visiting her office dropped. Most likely, because families did not feel safe going in person.
Later on, as telehealth picked up, Dr. Ahmad said the number of patients began increasing again. It then became clear coronavirus was impacting her patients in another way.
“The complaints are a lot about unstructured sleep. Kids going to bed very late at night, then having difficulty waking up in the morning and getting to class. And because they’ve been so tired, they’re taking naps when they’re not supposed to,” Dr. Ahmad said.
Dr. Ahmad said one way to help is dimming lights. She said that will help with the natural secretion of melatonin.
Another suggestion: moving your kids’ bedtimes earlier by about fifteen minutes each day until they reach a more realistic bedtime.