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A 25-Hour Day?
Children and Circadian Rhythms
By Carma Haley Shoemaker
When adjusting a child to a fixed wake up time, Sheldon suggests adding a "simulated dawn" to help the body's internal clock/pacemaker reset. "Begin with a small amount of light," says Sheldon. "Just as the first few minutes of dawn are very slight and subtle changes, so can the light that wakes up the child. After about five minutes, add another light, then another and another until the house is bright enough that you wouldn't need a flash to take a picture. The bright light should be continuous for at least 45 minutes. This technique eases a child into being awake and resets the body clock to prepare for daytime activities."
The use of a "firmly fixed" wake up time may give rise to concern in parents as they realize that their child may not get a full night's sleep during the process and may become sleep deprived. In reality, these children are already deprived of a full night's sleep and unless the disorder is resolved, it will only continue. "By having t wake up for school at six or seven. to catch the bus when they aren't falling asleep until one or two in the morning is already taking away from a large amount of sleep a child should be getting," says Sheldon. "But if the parents continue the treatment regiment by firmly fixing the child's morning wake up time -- and they keep to it -- then the sleep deprivation will resolve. They will find that the child begins to get sleepy earlier in the evening and will begin going to bed -- and actually going to sleep -- at a more desirable hour."
