The back-to-school transition can be hectic for any household, but a little preparation will go a long way to calm the chaos and keep it fun.

 

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Tara Aronson offers her top 10 tips for calm mornings in Beating the School-Morning Madness. You won’t have nearly as many meltdowns (and your kids will be happier too!) when you follow her good advice.

One of the first things she mentions in the article is to ease kids into the school-year sleep schedule at least a week in advance. I can’t agree more. If you have a night owl in the nest, you might even want to start the transition sooner.

Did you know that the recommendation to get 8 hours of sleep is for adults? Kids need more—even as much as 10 to 12 hours of sleep every night (that includes teenagers). While every child’s sleep needs may be different, there are guidelines that will help you figure out if they’re getting enough. WebMD makes recommendations according to age in the article, How Much Sleep Do Children Need?

(Note: The views expressed in this blog post are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of The Housekeeping Channel, LLC.)