This is the time of year for new beginnings. Come Aug 29th, everything changes. Our weather gets cooler (a little bit), the days get shorter, and kids return to school. Now is the time to establish new sleep routines.
If your child hasn't been going to bed regularly, get him back into a normal sleeping habit. The quickest way to make this happen is to wake him up when he needs to wake up. His body will take care of the rest. Just make sure he has had plenty of exercise, food, and water. He will go to bed at a decent hour. Another approach that might make your lives a little easier is to transition her bed time by half hour increments. Again, make sure she has food, water, and plenty of exercise before she lays down. Get her up about eight hours later. This strategy will take a little longer, but everyone will be happier. The key is consistency of bed time and wake up time. The freedom of summer allows more flexibility in sleep patterns, but once school starts, she will need to be awake all day.
Check out the National Sleep Foundation for more information: http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep
I know you're talking about kids, but "food, water, and plenty of exercise" sounds like you're speaking of a dog. :)
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