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Description

Bedtime routines play an important role in sleep during early childhood. However, not much research has been done to examine if there is a difference in bedtime routines on the weekends in comparison to during the week, and how such routines relate to total sleep time (TST). This study focuses on consistency in weekend bedtime routines and weekend total sleep time in a small sample of preschool children (N=13). Sleep was objectively assessed using actigraphy, and caregivers filled out the Bedtime Routines Questionnaire (BRQ) to assess bedtime routines. Preliminary results revealed that a significant positive correlation between consistency in bedtime routine behavior used during weekend and weekend TST (r = 0.601, p = 0.030), suggesting that children with more consistent behaviors during bedtime routine sleep relate to longer sleep on weekend nights. Interestingly, this relation was not observed for weekday bedtime routines and weekday TST. These results show that consistent bedtime routines may be especially important for increasing TST on the weekends, where inconsistent scheduling may affect sleep duration. In addition, bedtime on the weekends may be later than during the weekdays. Due to the small sample size, the results should be interpreted cautiously. Data collection is ongoing.

Publication Date

4-30-2026

Keywords

Sleep, preschoolers, bedtime routines

Relations between Weekend Bedtime Consistency and Sleep Duration in Preschoolers

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