Is It OK to Stay Up Late During Summer Break?

Summer break is almost here. And you know what that means . . . freedom!

Soon there won’t be any alarms waking you up early for school. You can spend your days riding your bike, playing video games with friends, or making slime. And at night, you could maybe even stay up late. 

But should you?

Summer break is almost here. And that means freedom! 

Soon you won’t have to wake up early for school. You can spend your days riding your bike or playing with friends. At night, you could even stay up late. But should you? 

But others think it’s OK for kids to go to bed later when school is out. Many exciting summer activities, like roasting s’mores over a fire or watching fireworks, happen after the sun has set. In summer, that can be as late as 9:30 p.m. Some argue that if you go to bed earlier than that, you’ll miss out! 

Plus, going to bed when it’s still bright outside can make it harder to fall asleep. “Darkness lets our bodies know that it’s time to rest,” says Buckhalt. If it gets dark later, shouldn’t bedtimes be later too?

Besides, there’s no school in the morning. If you go to bed late, you can sleep in to get all the Zzz’s you need. Or you can even take a nap during the day!

Here’s what experts recommend: If you want to stay up late, go to bed no more than one hour later than your usual bedtime. Then a few days before school starts, go to sleep 15 minutes earlier every night until you’re back to your regular bedtime. This way, your body will have time to adjust. And you’ll have plenty of energy to tell your friends about your amazing summer break!

But others think it’s OK for kids to go to bed later when school is out. Many summer activities happen after the sun has set. In the summer, the sun sets as late as 9:30 p.m. If you go to bed earlier, you could miss out! 

Plus, it’s harder to fall asleep when it’s light out. “Darkness lets our bodies know that it’s time to rest,” says Buckhalt. If it gets dark later, shouldn’t bedtimes be later too?

Besides, there’s no school in the morning. If you go to bed late, you can sleep in the next morning. Or you can take a nap during the day!

What do experts suggest? They say to go to bed no more than one
hour later than your usual bedtime. Then a few days before school starts, go to sleep 15 minutes earlier. Do that every night until you’re back to
your regular bedtime. This way, your body will have time to slowly adjust. And you will have a lotof energy to tell your friends about your great summer break!