As Children Get Older, Their Sleeping Patterns Shift.

a study from Brown University suggests that children, particularly as they get older, tend to go to bed later due to a shift in sleeping patterns. NBC News correspondence Miguel Almaguer explained that researchers “tracked 94 children for two years,” finding that “the typical nine-year-old falls asleep at 9:28 p.m. But by age 11 their bedtime naturally shifts to 10:00.” By the time teens are 15, they are going to bed around 10:30. Seventeen-year-olds may be going to bed as late as 11 pm. kids “are believed to need about nine hours of sleep during adolescence but many are not getting that minimum, and many parents and health-care professionals blame” early school start times. For that reason, “the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that schools start after 8:30 a.m. based on the growing body of research about the negative effects of insufficient sleep for teens.” http://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/adolescents-and-teen-health-news-719/study-builds-case-for-later-starting-time-in-high-school-693517.html