Yesterday on CNN.com, an article shared some of the common, but potentially dangerous mistakes parents make. It includes great information from the American Academy of Pediatrics that we thought our readers might find interesting.

So what are the top five parenting mistakes?

1. Moving baby to a bigger car seat too early
2. Letting baby sleep in swing
3. Letting your baby watch “educational” videos
4. Keeping babies off their tummies
5. Microwaving your baby’s bottle

Read more here. 

Back to school means back to bedtime routines. Robert Schoumacher, MD, medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, shares some basic rules for parents to follow all year long. Here’s what he had to say:

There are a few basic rules for getting adequate sleep. Set a consistent wake-up time and stick to it. Don't sleep late on weekends or holidays, or even after special late-night events. Getting up on time will help your child’s internal clock keep track of when it is time to go to sleep again. It’s appropriate to go to sleep an hour or two earlier than normal if your child has had a particularly hard day.
The amount of time in bed needs to be appropriate for the child's age. Children need more sleep than adults.

• 5- to 7-year-olds need 11 hours per day 
• 8- to 10-year-olds need 10 hours
• 11- to 13-year-olds need 10.5 hours
• 14- to 16-year olds need nine hours

Most toddlers need two naps or one long nap every day, plus 11 hours of sleep at night. Most preschoolers (ages 4-5) are fine with one 30 to 60-minute nap per day. Most children stop napping around age 5 or 6, if they are getting adequate sleep at night.

It’s important to establish an appropriate bedtime routine, which generally starts with bath time about 45 minutes before bedtime. Turn the television, computers and videogames off when bath time starts, and don’t turn them back on until the next day. Fill the last 45 minutes before bed with relaxing activities that the child enjoys, like bedtime stories, nightly prayers, cuddling with parents or quiet playtime. Help your child find the activities he or she enjoys that are relaxing, and stick to them in the same order every night.  End the bedtime routine by tucking the child in, giving a good night kiss and leaving the child alone in bed. Always leave the room once the routine is complete. The child needs to put himself to sleep without your help - this is final, important step. Younger children may need frequent checks and reinforcement to stay in the bed.

If these simple steps are not enough to achieve good sleep, parents should discuss their problem with the child's doctor. A referral to Le Bonheur’s Sleep Clinic may be helpful.

During the first year of life, a child’s sleep habits change greatly as he or she begins to sleep for longer periods at night and less during the day.

“During the first year, there is a physiological need for the consolidation of nighttime sleep. This is common to all humans. We have a circadian rhythm we need to follow,” said Le Bonheur Pediatrician Gail Beeman, MD.

However, there are “all kinds of practices dictated by culture and family that may or may not help a child develop physiological sleep habits,” Beeman said.

Beeman advises that parents and pediatricians focus on the physiology of sleep to be sure that the belief systems aren’t blocking the consolidation of sleep.

By 3 or 4 months of age, children will begin consolidating their sleep by sleeping longer at night and less during the day. Once a child reaches 12 months, he or she should be sleeping nine-10 hours a night with a couple short naps during the day. Parents run into two types of problems with sleep typically: the child not wanting to go to sleep and reawakening in the night and not going back to sleep.

Beeman suggests that parents begin developing a bedtime routine that helps a child become sleepy yet not quite asleep. This routine can include rocking, reading books, dim lighting, etc. The child should be placed in a safe place to sleep and then should fall asleep on his own. So when the child reawakens in the middle of the night, he should be able to put himself back to sleep. For younger infants, the feedings in the middle of the night should be kept calm and happen in a dark room. This will help the child develop his own sleep patterns.

Beeman emphasizes that the “Back to Sleep” campaign has saved children’s lives. This program educates parents to place newborns and young infants on their backs for sleep. Also, during those first 3 or 4 months of life the safest place to sleep is in the same room with the parents but in a separate bed – a bassinet or crib, she said.

The researchers were interested in the physiological aspects of sleep because short sleep duration is associated with obesity, learning problems, school problems, attention deficit disorders, among others.

“When we see well children in the clinic, we weigh them, measure their height, we ask all sort of developmental questions like ‘Is your child rolling over?’ The physiologic development of sleep is something we haven’t been paying as much attention to and we probably need to,” said Beeman.

It’s summertime, and kids are having fun and living carefree. But for parents, summer can bring bedtime battles. That’s OK, as long as some simple boundaries are set, especially for the young ones, say Le Bonheur experts. Robert Schoumacher, MD, medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, shares some basic rules for parents to follow all year long. Here’s what he had to say:

There are a few basic rules for getting adequate sleep. Set a consistent wake-up time and stick to it. Don't sleep late on weekends or holidays, or even after special late-night events. Getting up on time will help your child’s internal clock keep track of when it is time to go to sleep again. It’s appropriate to go to sleep an hour or two earlier than normal if your child has had a particularly hard day. For a summertime schedule, don't move bedtime and wakeup time by more than an hour, or your child could have trouble getting back on the regular schedule when school starts.

The amount of time in bed needs to be appropriate for the child's age. Children need more sleep than adults.

• 5 to 7 year olds need 11 hours per day
• 8 to 10 year olds need 10
•  11 to 13 year olds need 10.5 hours
•  14 to 16 year olds need nine hours

Most toddlers need two naps or one long nap every day, plus 11 hours of sleep at night. Most preschoolers (ages 4-5) are fine with one 30-60-minute nap per day. Most children stop napping around age 5 or 6, if they are getting adequate sleep at night.

It’s important to establish an appropriate bedtime routine, which generally starts with bath time about 45 minutes before bedtime. Turn the television, computers and videogames off when bath time starts, and don’t turn them back on until the next day. Fill the last 45 minutes before bed with relaxing activities that the child enjoys, like bedtime stories, nightly prayers, cuddling with parents or quiet playtime. Help your child find the activities he or she enjoys that are relaxing and stick to them in the same order every night. 

End the bedtime routine by tucking the child in, giving a good night kiss and leaving the child alone in bed. Always leave the room once the routine is complete. The child needs to put himself to sleep without your help on this final important step. Younger children may need frequent checks and reinforcement to stay in the bed.

If these simple steps are not enough to achieve good sleep, parents should discuss their problem with the child's doctor. A referral to the Sleep Clinic may be helpful.