Time to Sleep (Because the TV Says So)
There’s one thing that determines when I sleep: When Charlie goes to bed. (So, in his pre-melatonin days, when he fell asleep at midnight at the earliest, “bedtime” for me took on all the aura of some kind of promised land.)
According to a new study in the Journal of Labor Economics, the schedule for TV shows, rather than natural circadian rhythms, determine the times when most Americans sleep:
In their forthcoming article for the Journal of Labor Economics, “Cues for Timing and Coordination: Latitude, Letterman, and Longitude,” authors Daniel S. Hamermesh, Caitlin Knowles Myers, and Mark L. Pocock look at the brief fight between American’s natural timing cues — the circadian rhythms determined by the sun — and the man-made cues brought on within the last century, mainly by the creation of time zones and the television broadcast schedule. In this relatively brief time, they find, the markers for how we structure our day have been dramatically altered.
Guess we are in the minority and not only because we currently don’t have a TV: Charlie has never been a big TV watcher himself; when the sun rises and when it sets regulates his sleep patterns (and, consequently, mine). The advent of Daylight Saving Time and the change back to Standard Time usually create some minor disturbances for him: Charlie runs by his internal clock and, even though the time difference is only one hour, the change in the time for the start of school and mealtimes sets things off. (Charlie does not yet know how to tell time using a clock; he’s been working on reading time on the hour and half-hour on a digital clock at school.)
Charlie has also come done with the cold/flu thing I had last week and passed the better part of Saturday in slumberland on the couch. He had a fever and a gurgling cough, and seemed the better for his long nap. He woke around 6.30pm and we asked him if he’d like to get take-out from his favorite hamburger place, which he had been calling for earlier in the day.
“No takeout!” said Charlie. He named the hamburger place and added “Sit.”
Which, in the middle of a severe rain deluge and heavy winds that rattled like a car engine, we did. Good to be back on the usual schedule of things with Charlie.
Tags: asd, asperger, autism, daylight saving time, economics, Family, Parenting, pdd-nos, Sleep
9 opinions for Time to Sleep (Because the TV Says So)
Jill
Mar 9, 2008 at 8:40 am
Thanks for the reminder on changing my clocks. I just changed the clocks in the kitchen and I am ready to head upstairs to change the one in my bedroom. I congratulate you on living without a TV but I don’t know what I would do not having “The Office” and “John Stewart/the Colbert Report” combo.
Niksmom
Mar 9, 2008 at 8:55 am
Wow, I was out in that deluge yesterday…can’t imagine going out to dinner in it! Glad Charlie’s feeling a bit better!
Marla
Mar 9, 2008 at 11:30 am
So glad Charlie is feeling better.
Sleep is the promised land! You are so right about that. I still don’t know how you manage without a television. I don’t plan my sleep around it but I sure do like escaping with it on a daily basis.
FXSmom
Mar 9, 2008 at 12:44 pm
My fragile x/autism kids sleep with the sunshine too. As Rachel is learning to tell time her sleep clock is adjusting. But Matt doesn’t even know that clocks exist so his is still down with the sun and up with the sun. Which means….so is Mom :)
KimJ
Mar 9, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Bedtime is determined and enforced by mom. Waking up is determined by some internal clock, usually. The tv is off by 6pm but there are videogames, movies and stuff to do.
I stopped watching regular tv in high school.
Regan
Mar 9, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Sorry to hear that Charlie is under the weather…’hope he is feeling better soon!
Yeah, I know the feeling. My body shrieks “go to bed” and the tube says “stay up a little longer…that movie is going to be on…”. My husband is even worse–mesmerized; you literally have to turn the television off for him to focus. We got cable for the internet, but the TV part of the bundle has been a bad deal.
You are very lucky that you don’t have TV. I mean it.
Autism in the Eye of the Beholder (and the Special Master)
Mar 10, 2008 at 1:41 am
[…] knees and looked around him from beneath the hood of his blue jacket (yes, he seems to have had a very mild version of the cold/flu I had). Walking down Avenue A and then Canal Street and into Chinatown, Charlie held tightly to […]
Bonnie Sayers
May 6, 2008 at 10:41 pm
I have then bedroom very dark and for a week or two before the clocks change he is waking up at 3 or 4 am, but does not get sleepy at school although very giggly.
When the clocks change I can barely get him out of bed at 6:30 since it is so dark. He takes his dose of Geodon at 5 PM and is asleep usually at 7 pm, but summertime is hard to get him into the bedroom since it is light out for another hour plus.
Once he goes to sleep we can relax for a bit and go outside to cool off since the only A/C is in bedroom with Matt.
No TV? Will do a search on that.
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 6, 2008 at 10:43 pm
7pm bedtime—–that hasn’t been the case for Charlie in years, years, and years, since he was a toddler!
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