Back To School Sleep Reset featuring Dr. Sujay Kansagra

The Back-to-School Sleep Reset Every Family Needs Right NowSummer let everyone drift. Later bedtimes, slower mornings, no alarms. Then the school calendar shows up and suddenly you're asking a kid whose body clock is set to midnight to be alert at 7 a.m.You are not alone, and you are not a bad parent. This is biology.This week Dr. Alison Kole sits down with Dr. Sujay Kansagra — pediatric neurologist and sleep medicine specialist at Duke, the voice behind @thatsleepdoc, and the inventor of Lullabee, a smart crib mattress built on actual infant sleep science. He is one of the clearest communicators in sleep medicine, and this conversation is packed with things you can start doing tonight.In this episode:How much sleep kids actually need at every age, so you can measure how far off you really areWhy summer drift isn't automatically harmful, and the two things that matter more than a perfect scheduleToddlers are larks. Teenagers are owls. Why fighting either one is a losing strategyThe "robotic return to bed" technique for bedtime battles, and why Dr. Kansagra once used it 213 times in a single nightHow to tell the difference between a child pushing limits and a child who is anxious, especially when they can't name the feeling themselvesThe 10 to 15 minute rule for shifting a teenager's clock back before day one of school, plus the light, dim, and meal-timing levers that make it stickWhere melatonin actually has evidence behind it as a clock-shifting agent, why the dose is far smaller and the timing far earlier than most people assume, and why this is a conversation for your provider and not the gummy aisleWhy a consistent wake time matters more than a consistent bedtimeThe counterintuitive weekend fix: don't sleep in, take a strategic midday nap instead. Twenty to thirty minutes or a full ninety, and why the middle is the worst place to landWhy this nap advice is not for chronic insomniacsPermanent standard time vs. permanent daylight saving time: the morning-light argument, the school-bus safety argument, and what happened the last time this country tried it in the 1970sHow school start times and daylight saving stack the deck against developing teenage brainsThe story behind Lullabee: how it soothes, how it weans itself as a baby's sleep matures, and why it re-engages during regressionsSleep is not a luxury. It's a vital sign. And for your kids, it's the foundation the whole school year is built on.About the guest Dr. Sujay Kansagra is a pediatric neurologist and sleep medicine specialist at Duke University Medical Center, the creator behind @thatsleepdoc, and the inventor of Lullabee.Find him: @thatsleepdoc on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads Lullabee: lullabee.comConnect with Dr. Alison Kole Website: askthesleepmd.com Instagram: @askthesleepmdIf this episode helped you build your back-to-school sleep plan, follow the show, share it with one parent who needs it, and leave a review so more families can find it.Great days start the night before. Sleep well.This podcast is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Talk with your own clinician about your family's situation.