Back to school: Don’t lose sleep over kids losing sleep

The people behind the desks at the American Sleep Apnea Association (ASAA) are not just sleep health and patient advocates… we have families, too, and our kids are also going back to school!

Yep, we’re in the same boat with the rest of America, trying to prepare our kids for their return to school with the least amount of stress and struggle. Trust us, we know what you’re going through!

In addition, some of us have our own sleep issues, and these can include the sleep disorders of our spouses, aging parents and even our kids. Whether it’s inadequate sleep, struggles with sleep hygiene, sleep breathing disorders, kids who have sleep riddled with anxiety or nightmares, or other challenges to sleep, we’re in the trenches. Meanwhile, we can’t ignore the truth: NOT treating sleep disorders (ours, or our loved ones’), is simply NOT optional.

That’s why now is a great time for you to ask us for help. Back-to-school time can shake the foundations of day-to-day order in any family.

So ask us a question about your back-to-school problems! Share your tips with our readers in the groups and forums we host. Tell us your stories (even the horror stories)! We exist to engage with, educate, and motivate patients who have sleep health concerns, and your struggles (and successes) at this time of year won’t be lost on us.

Back to school:

What is your biggest sleep transition concern?

Or, what has been your best solution to the problem of adjusting to a new school schedule?

We’re all ears!

• Is there a challenge you face every year that you just can’t seem to hack when it comes to getting your family on the back-to-school schedule? 
• Is it your school’s bell times that create the biggest problem for your family? 
• If you work full time, how does the transition back to school in the fall impact your life as a worker? 
• If you are caring for elderly loved ones while raising school-aged kids, do you have extra challenges at this time of year? 
• How soon do you start making adjustments? 
• Are there before- or after-school commitments that also encroach on your family during this transition? 
• How do your children respond to earlier bedtimes when the world is still steeped in warm summer weather? 
• What efforts do you take to improve the sleep environment so everyone can go to bed just a little earlier? 
• Do you have kids embarking on their first year at college? What concerns do you have about their sleep health? What have you done to help them to adjust to the wider freedom they’ll experience in schedules while away at school?

We encourage you to send us your back-to-school comments, tips, and answers to these questions by way of this blog, our Facebook groups, our Twitter feed, our Sleeptember® forum, or even in email or surface mail. Listed below are a wide variety of ways you can connect and communicate with our team at the American Sleep Apnea Association.

If you have other questions, comments, feedback, or suggestions, we would love to hear from you as well! We’ll be glad to hear from you!

Best in health,

—Your team at the American Sleep Apnea Association

Where to find the ASAA

TWITTER
ASAA @sleepapneaorg
Sleeptember @sleeptember
SleepHealthApp @sleephealthapp

FACEBOOK
ASAA page: www.facebook.com/sleepapneaorg/
Sleeptember page: www.facebook.com/Sleeptember/

NEW!!! SPOTIFY
Spotify #GoodMorningMusic playlist: http://bit.ly/Sleeptember_GoodMorningMusic
Spotify #AfternoonTunes playlist: http://bit.ly/Sleeptember_AfternoonTunes
Spotify #SoundAsleep: http://bit.ly/Sleeptember_SoundAsleep

WEBSITES
SleepApnea.org: https://sleepapnea.org/about/contact-us/
SleepHealth.org: https://sleephealth.org/about-sleephealth-org/learn/
Sleeptember.org: asaa@sleepapnea.org (We highly recommend you join our free, private forum to ask our patients and volunteers your sleep-specific questions and to seek out advice for concerns with CPAP, insomnia, insurance, and other related topics)

PROGRAMS
SleepHealth Mobile App Study: Telephone: 877-355-0119 (Leave a message if you have questions about the study or your participation.)

A.W.A.K.E. Patient Support Network: awake@sleepapnea.org

CPAP Assistance Program: For all questions about our CPAP Assistance Program, and to check application or program fee status.
Telephone: 888-293-3650
Fax: 888-293-3650
eMail: manager@sleepapnea.org

ASAA OFFICES
American Sleep Apnea Association
2000 Pennsylvania Ave NW #7000
Washington, DC 20006

Telephone: 888-293-3650
FAX: 888-293-3650
email: asaa@sleepapnea.org

The ASAA is unable to provide medical or legal assistance. If you have a question related to sleep health or sleep disorders of all kinds, please visit our community forum at talk.sleepapnea.org to find advice and support from other patients or our volunteers.