The new school year is upon us and we want our children to do their best and be successful. We as parents play a big part in giving them the best opportunity to be successful, simply by ensuring they get a good night's sleep. An appropriate amount of sleep is key to good school performance and will set your children up for success. Elementary and middle school students should sleep between 10 to 11 hours and high school students should get 8 to 9 hours of sleep every night.

Studies have shown, children who do not get an appropriate amount of sleep are more likely to have decreased attention spans, greater irritability and lower school performance than children who do get the proper amount of sleep.  With our busy lives, it is not easy to ensure our children get enough sleep.  We have after school activities, homework, and many parents get home late from work.  But, we can all make simple changes to help our children sleep better.  Begin by setting a bedtime. It is important that our children get into the habit of going to bed at a set hour every night.  Also, we can eliminate soft drinks that contain caffeine from their diet and have "quiet time," one hour before bedtime.  Caffeine increases blood pressure and heart rate, both of which are detrimental to a good night's sleep.  "Quiet time" is a time where children should not do any activities that over-stimulate the brain, such as watching television, playing video games or doing homework.

It is not always easy, but if we help our children get a good night's sleep, they will have a better quality of life.  They will be less irritable, happier and be in a better position to succeed in school. That is something that will help us as parents sleep better as well!

I would like to thank everyone who voted for us in this year's

Best of East & Central Pasco. In our first year, we won Silver! We are very excited of this accomplishment, and congratulate, Dr Kathryn Lin, of Pediatric Partners in Zephyrhills, who took this year's top honor.   

Finally, we will be open on Saturday September 14th and Saturday, September 21st from 9am-11:30am for appointments.  These fill up fast so call today.

Thank you for letting us be a part of your lives & have a great day,

Before you know it, the somewhat calm child of three becomes a dynamo of energy, drive, bossiness, belligerence, and generally out-of-bounds behavior. You may be reminded of the earlier trials and tribulations you went through when he was two. Also obvious during this time is the tremendous spurt of imaginative ideas that spring from children's minds and mouths. All of this behavior and thinking will help your youngster build a secure foundation as he emerges into the world of kindergarten.

Here are some milestones to look for: Click Here!