Better Bedtimes

When is bedtime too late? What are the signs that a child is sleep-deprived? Answers to these questions and more.

Nontraditional Notion

The bottom line:
Arrange bedtime to allow
your child enough sleep.

Pat Brogan, a mother of four, is also a vice president for a computer services company in the San Francisco area. While her career has demanded a lot of time, she made a commitment long ago not to allow it to detract from her time with her children.

Something, of course, had to give. In her family's case, it was the traditional idea of an appropriate bedtime for her children. "I've always kept them up late so I could spend as much time with them as possible," says Brogan. Nap times were arranged during the day to allow the children, as babies and toddlers, to stay up until 11 p.m.

If this sounds late to you, wake up to today's facts. "Bedtime has kind of dropped by the wayside for many parents as an important component in a child's well-being," says Sara Harkness, associate professor of human development and anthropology at Penn State University. In today's world where two-career households and evening soccer practices are the norm, getting kids to bed by 8 p.m. isn't always possible.

Continued on page 2: Bedtime vs. Total Sleep