Back-to-school bedtime: Here's how to reset your child's sleep schedule

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Right now, most families are enjoying their summer sleep schedule. But in a few short weeks, many kids will be going back to school. If you want them fresh for first day of classes, experts say you have to start resetting their sleep now.

To get to the school by the time the bell rings, kids likely had to struggle through several rounds with a snooze button.

"You can feel that whiplash, that jet lag and it could be very uncomfortable and it might affect your day to day," said Cleveland Clinic Sleep specialist Dr. Brian Chen.

The last thing you want to do is to change your sleep schedule cold turkey. So how do you get your circadian rhythm to beat to a different drum?

"If you want to shift your schedule, slower is better," he said.

Because if you abruptly disrupt your sleep-wake cycle, it can lead to sleep deprivation which can mess with your mood, cognitive function and physical health.

"There are issues in terms of your heart, in terms of your brain, cognitive deficits later on in life as you're older and probably insomnia, long-term, chronic insomnia," said Chen.

So the best plan of action is to start now and gradually change your bedtime.

"Just plan ahead for if you know something like school is about to start in this many weeks, and I'm falling asleep at this time, but I have to be falling asleep four hours earlier. Well, you got to start shifting four weeks ahead of time," he said.

Sleep deprivation doesn't just affect kids.

The NIH reports 86.5% of older adults with insomnia report at least two other chronic illnesses including cardiovascular disease and hypertension. So how do you know how much sleep you need?

Your baseline depends on your age. Six-to-12-year-olds need between nine and 12 hours of sleep. Teenagers need eight to 10 hours of sleep, and adults need seven to nine hours of sleep. Chen said start by tracking how much sleep you get naturally.

"This is usually something you do on vacation. So on vacation, when do you go to bed, when do you wake up," said Chen.

From there you can create a healthy shift of your schedule little by little over several weeks.

If you think sleeping in on the weekends can off-set your sleep debt, you're wrong.

The Sleep Foundation says while you may feel less sleepy, it doesn't take away the increased risk of hypertension, type two diabetes and Alzheimer's. Chen said speak to a sleep specialist if you have concerns about your sleep.