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A lot of parents encourage their older kids to get to bed at a reasonable time, knowing they’re not always getting enough sleep. But one dad, who also happens to be a pediatrician, is going viral for the way he handles bedtime with his four kids. And let's just say it’s a lot earlier than you’d think a teenager would actually go to bed.
Dr. Rossome, a popular pediatrician on TikTok, shared a video last week where he shares that he puts his kids to bed “very, very early,” and even admits that some people think it’s kind of controversial. “As a general rule of thumb, we try to get all of our kids, ages seven all the way to 15, starting to lay down or get ready for bed around 7:30 p.m.,” Rossome explains. “This most often allows us to get the littles to sleep around 7:30 and get the bigger kids ready to go to sleep somewhere around 8:30 or so.”
Now, because he’s a children’s doctor, he recognizes how important rest is for kids and that many of them aren’t getting as much as they need. The thing is, a lot of families have sports and activities in the evenings, so they’re not even home until after 7:30, and Dr. Rossome gets it. He says his kids have those activities, events and sports as well, but on the nights they don’t, they stick to those strict bedtimes to make sure they get plenty of sleep. And he points out that most teenagers still need nine to 10 hours a night, while elementary and middle schoolers need at least 11 to 12 hours of sleep every night.