Back to School Jacksonville: Best practices for bedtime routine

Action News Jax is teaming up with the Jacksonville Moms Blog for back to school!

Anchor John Bachman and mommy blogger Chantel Biedleman sat down with Wolfson Children's Hospital psychiatrist  Dr. Raj Loungani to talk about bedtime routines and screen-time guidelines for children and teens.

Some tips for parents include:

1. Give your child a bedtime routine for school nights. The "bath, book and bed" method is a great way to get kids in sleep mode.

2. Don't wait until the last minute to start your nighttime routines. Easing kids into the routine a few days or weeks before school will yield better results.

3. Know the recommended sleep guidelines for your child's age group before you set a bedtime. Here are the National Sleep Foundation's recommendations.

4. If your child has trouble falling asleep, learning some deep-breathing exercises can help them relax at night.

5. Limit screen time - especially right before bed. Here are the current screen-time guidelines by age group from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

You can also read Baptist Health's "Tackling Screen Time" blog post here for more ideas.

Stay with Action News Jax for all of your back-to-school news. You can tune in weekdays starting at 4:30 a.m. on FOX30 or check out our back-to-school page.

Cox Media Group