National Sleep Foundation Reminds Parents and Their Children That Sleep is Always a Healthy Choice!

WASHINGTON, DC, March 30, 2004 - The country's annual "spring forward" ritual that marks the return of Daylight Saving Time can cause disruptions in normal sleep patterns for children and adults. This year, Daylight Saving Time returns at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, April 4, and marks the end of the National Sleep Foundation's (NSF) week-long campaign, National Sleep Awareness Week. NSF says there are steps you can take to minimize the sleep loss and enjoy the benefits of healthy sleep and productive days.

"Children and adults can experience sleep disruptions with the return of Daylight Saving Time," says Jodi Mindell, PhD, a nationally recognized expert in pediatric sleep and a member of NSF's board of directors. "It may take your child longer to fall asleep with the time change. Since we move the clock forward, he or she may not be as sleepy as usual at bedtime," says Dr. Mindell, a professor of psychology at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, and associate director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

According to NSF's new Sleep in America poll released this week, children 10 and younger sleep less than experts recommend. The poll also finds that parents say they get less sleep than they need, so it is important for adults and children to minimize any additional sleep loss that can result from the time change.

Dr. Mindell has two tips to ease the transition. Either of these can help your child adjust to the time change within a few days to a week:

• Maintain your child's regular sleep, wake and nap times. Try not to compensate for the lost hour by delaying bedtime or allowing your child to sleep in. This will increase the time it takes to transition. There may be some crankiness from being tired, but this should last only a day or two.
• Make gradual adjustments. Some parents find its best to try to start making adjustments on Saturday night rather than wait until Sunday, a school night. Parents might even want to try making a slow transition starting on Thursday night before the time change, moving their child's bedtime earlier by 15 minutes each night. By Sunday night their child will be right back on schedule.

  Now for parents, who, like their children, can also experience sleep loss and schedule disruptions because of the time change. As many parents know, additional sleep loss is not something they can afford. NSF polls reveal that most adults already get less than the recommended seven to nine hours of nightly sleep needed to be fully alert the next day. "Too many people will sacrifice yet another hour of sleep when the clocks change – an hour they cannot afford to lose particularly on the weekend when people try to catch up on the sleep they missed during the week," said Richard Gelula, NSF's chief executive officer.

These few simple lifestyle changes can help most people transition into Daylight Saving Time:

• Try to sleep more than usual a few nights prior to and immediately following the time change.
• Take a nap in the afternoon on Sunday if you need it, but not within a few hours of your regular bedtime. Napping too close to bedtime can disrupt nighttime sleep.

Daylight Saving Time marks the end of National Sleep Awareness Week®, when NSF and its partners in communities across the country raise awareness about the importance of sleep and the treatment of sleep disorders. "Sleep! It's a Healthy Choice" is the theme for this year's campaign, a theme NSF urges Americans to adopt throughout the year. Learn what you can do to improve your sleep and recognize signs of potentially serious sleep disorders by visiting NSF's Web site, www.sleepfoundation.org.

The National Sleep Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public health and safety by achieving understanding of sleep and sleep disorders, and by supporting education, sleep-related research, and advocacy. NSF is based in Washington, D.C. National Sleep Awareness Week® is a licensed program of the National Sleep Foundation. Use of this trademark and the related logo in advertising or promotions of any sort is limited to 2004 National Sleep Awareness Week Sponsors, Community Sleep Awareness Partners®, and Cooperative Co-Sponsors.