A City of Kids Who Never Sleep

Parents who work late often don’t make it home before their kids go to bed. So instead of coming home earlier, some parents are keeping kids up later. New York’s Time Out Kids magazine reports in its November issue that pushing back bedtime is often the only way some parents find time to see their children. The magazine tells the story of an Upper East Side father who regularly worked until 8 p.m. and came home night after night to find his son asleep. The family’s solution: the 3-year-old boy now goes to bed at 9 p.m.

Three-year-old Claire of Brooklyn doesn’t go to bed until 10 or 11 p.m. “If we lived elsewhere in the country, Claire’s bedtime would probably be earlier,'’ said her mother, Becky Rent. “But this is just the New York City way, and it works for us.”

Although babies and toddlers at least have the option to sleep late the next day, schoolkids still have to get up early and make do on less sleep. And childhood is a risky time to miss out on sleep. In September, the medical journal Sleep reported that shorter sleep duration, particularly before the age of 3 1/2, resulted in lower cognitive performance and hyperactivity problems. The “results highlight the importance of giving a child the opportunity to sleep at least 10 hours per night throughout early childhood,'’ the authors stated.

Lisa Spiegel, founder of Soho Parenting, told Time Out Kids that rather than keeping kids up late, busy parents should try to find a few nights a week when they can come home early. And if working late is essential, put the kids to bed on time and start making breakfast the family meal.