So if Little Aiden needs the recommended 13 hours of sleep every night, and he gets to preschool at 7:30 in the morning every day, and needs time to eat breakfast and get dressed and ride in the car, he would need to go to bed at 5:30 p.m. every night. Right.

Getting kids to simmer down and go to sleep at a decent time every night can be one of the most challenging parts of the day. And by “challenging”, I mean exhausting, frustrating, and wearying. As the process of settling down and drifting off to sleep lingers on, those golden moments of alone time or adult time disappear.

Not only is a late bedtime a real drag for parents, but it’s also bad news for kids. The Sleep Foundation reports that regular sleep routines are essential. They suggest the following hours of sleep for different age groups. Of course, every kid is different, but these are guidelines.

• Preschoolers (ages 3-5) require 10-13 hours of sleep
• School-age children (ages 6-13) require 9-11 hours of sleep
• Teenagers (ages 14-17) require 8-10 hours of sleep

So if soccer or karate or dance or whatever goes until 6:30 p.m. and then there needs to be time for dinner, a bath, and a story before bed, kids might get to bed by 8:00 and be asleep by 8:30 if they are cooperative. For a five-year-old who has to be to kindergarten by 8:00 a.m. or so and up by 6:30 to make it to the bus in time, there’s barely enough time to get the minimum ten hours of sleep.

As kids get older, practices go later, homework piles up, and sleep gets pushed later and later. What can parents do?

The Sleep Foundation has suggestions for making the best of the situation by streamlining bedtime. The suggested routine for younger kids is to take a warm bath or shower, brush teeth, cuddle with a parent or caregiver, sing lullabies or read, and practice journaling or meditating.

Note that watching a movie or playing on the iPad is not on the list. Turning off screens an hour before bed is a good idea for getting ready for bed.

Establishing a bedtime routine is difficult, but if successful, it pays off for everyone, and parents might even be able to sneak in an episode of Cobra Kai while they fold laundry before they get their own recommended seven to nine hours of sleep.