The Bernard L. Pacella, MD Parent Child Center

Resources: Authors

INDA SCHAENEN

Author of: The 7 O'Clock Bedtime

Inda Schaenen is a freelance writer and full-time mother of three children ages six, nine and twelve. She and her family live in St. Louis, Missouri.

"The 7o'clock bedtime.... you are that better, stronger, wiser parent, whether you believe it or not. And what will make that possible, as so eloquently argued by Inda Schaenen, will be your newfound, unswerving conviction that this is in the best interest of your child. Once persuaded that a good night's sleep, much like nutrition, seat belts, and a roof over one's head, is not only an inalienable right of every child and parent but a bona fide parental responsibility, you are more than half way there."

- Judith A. Owens, MD, MPH, director, Pediatric Sleep Disorder Clinic; director, Learning, Attention, and Behavior Program, Hasbro Children's Hospital; associate professor of pediatrics, Brown University School of Medicine

Leon Hoffman states: Inda Schaenen, in The 7 O'Clock Bedtime, discusses the importance of regular sleep schedules for children of all ages and their families. Although one may assume that her perspective is an authoritarian one, Ms. Schaenen makes it clear that there are many choices a parent can make. A regularized 7 o'clock bedtime is a choice she and her spouse have made for their family. She stresses that her book is designed for those parents to whom this regularity is appealing (page 71).

She makes a profound point when she states that imposing order on time is very soothing to children (page 29). Thus, the main message in her book is that parents should stick to a routine, even on vacations (page 77), and that sleep is the best medicine (page 87) even though this technique of child rearing is "like the salmon swimming against the current" (page 103). This is a message that all parents need to heed. In our culture of 24-hour media stimulation, parents need to be confident of their child-rearing techniques in order to be able to remain effective parents. Parents need to be able to say, "In our family, these are the rules, even though Johnny's or Jane's family does it differently."

That is a most important message.

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