Summer time is the time to re-set your children (and your own) sleep clocks. Maybe it's not possible during the hectic school year for any of you to sleep in, except on the occasional weekend -- but school being out and summer offer a real chance to get much deserved and "needed" sleep.

In general, kids need between nine and eleven hours of sleep while they are still growing.

Some of the research on children and lack of sleep is very disturbing. It's well documented that children who gets mostly A's and B's in school get on average, forty minutes of sleep every night than those with lower grades.

Kids who don't get enough sleep are more apt to also significantly be:

• Depressed
• Without energy when awake
• Tired
• Tense
• Moody and stressed
• Irritable
• Have a negative self image
• Have ADHD
• Problematic behaviors
• Lower levels of social skills with peers and adults
• Be hyperactive
• Less attentive
• Have difficulty learning
• Be prone to breathing disorders
• Be twice as likely to frequently and loudly snore
• Have poor coping skills
• Perform poorly in test taking, failing a startling forty-two percent more frequently, than kids who got the age appropriate amount of sleep

Many children in this age group (ages five to twelve) don't get enough sleep according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Here are some tips to make sure that your children get the sleep that they need:

• Kids need sleep routines. Not only do children like consistency, they need it and so do their bodies and brains.
• Bedtime snacks of tryptophan (an amino acid necessary to sleep) are a good habit to introduce to your children (cheese, milk, yogurt).
• Avoid the sleep trap of excessive liquids being drunk in the hour before bedtime. Nip kids waking up to go to the bathroom in the bud, by making sure they don't have a full bladder.
• Avoid excessive "electronic" stimulation such as frightening or high action movies or video games right before bedtime.
• Avoid excessive high energy games and rough housing that stimulate excitable children close to bedtime. A rule of "quiet time" close to bedtime can work wonders.
• Make use of traditional and transitional cherished items (dolls, stuffed animals, or other favorite toys) that kids can sleep with. This provides security and comfort.
• Make sure that your child's bedroom is conductive for sleep. The room should be cool, quiet, and have little or no light ideally. Additionally, remove from sight daytime exciting toys that tempt little ones away from the business of sleeping.
• Don't skimp on providing your children proper mattresses, comforters, and pillows. Also be aware of proper pillow placement for a good night's sleep. 

Well, in the full tilt age of them "knowing it all" it's hard to convince teens that sleeping is just as important to their health and daily performance, as it is to an infant.

It's no secret to parents that teens are late to sleep and late to rise -- an obvious challenge in parenting, both during the school year and during more relaxed summer. However, this is a period of high growth for their bodies and minds, and they needed their sleep, admit it or not.

Encourage them to:

• Choose a consistent and reasonable summer time bedtime and develop the habit of reading for ten to fifteen minutes before sleeping, rather than falling asleep to the television or stereo.
• Establish a bedtime routine that they can carry with them to college and adulthood, by taking a relaxing shower or bath each night.
• Educate them on the folly of caffeine in the late afternoon and evening. Caffeine is one stimulant that inhibits healthy sleep no matter what your age is.
• Make them aware that physical activity should be avoided close to bedtime. Exercise shouldn't be too close to bedtime, as it will be a stimulant and make for a poor night's sleep. Exercise about five hours before bedtime is more appropriate.
• Teach them before they reach their teens that stimulating activities, such as video games, the Internet, and television in the bedroom shouldn't take place right before bedtime.
• Gift your teens with the awareness that they need balance between sports, other activities, music, work, and even friends. This is especially important at this age group in learning and establishing the life skill of managing their time wisely, including their sleep time.

Note: Ideally, studies have found that during teen years it is much more normal for teens to be awake from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Sometimes all good things have to come to an end to adjust to new realities. Summer sleep ins for kids have to be reset in time for school to start up again.

You can reset your children's internal sleep clock before school starts by:

• Starting about ten days before school starts, begin moving up bedtime by 15-20 minutes.
• At the same time, begin waking your children up by the same amount of time.
• During this time, also try to have breakfast outside in the early morning, as morning sunshine helps to reset the internal clock. Motivate them by having a surprise each morning that gets them excited about getting up.

Restless leg syndrome (aka RLS) isn't just something that happens to adults. Children can have sleep problems too. Parents often ignore this symptom which shows up very often with other modern day childhood diagnoses, such as ADD and ADHD and shortened attention spans.

Almost six percent of this nation's children have RLS. It's frequently dismissed as growing pains and often tied to an iron deficiency. It is also thought to be genetic.