Tips on creating structure for kids as they head back to school

CHICAGO - While most parents relish the idea of getting kids back to school, there is always a fear they won't be able to get them back to bed. 

Rest assured, FOX 32 has you covered with advice from a top sleep doc. 

Kids are anxious about the new school year which in turn makes it more difficult to get them to bed earlier. 

The best way to prepare kids for school is preparation. 

"One of the things that's really helpful to getting their brains to start to turn off is dimming the lights in the house about an hour before bedtime and turning off the TVs too," said Dr. Harvey Karp, pediatrician and best-selling author.

Dr. Karp's best-selling books "The Happiest Baby on the Block" and "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" are practically sleep bibles. His advice is to help kids get their Z's, so they can get back to learning their ABCs. 

"Turn on white noise or some kind of rumbly background noise about an hour before bedtime and then letting them sleep with that," said Dr. Karp. 

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He also has tips on lowering a child's anxiety and words of wisdom to soothe separation anxiety. 

"There are ways of teaching children to slow their breathing down because it turns out that slow breathing automatically helps the body balance itself in terms of anxiety," said Dr. Karp. "For little kids, one of the things that helps with separation anxiety is to give them something to keep in their pocket that whenever they're missing their parent they can reach in there and touch it." 

He says one of the best ways to get information from your child isn't to ask broad questions like how was your day, but rather, did anyone say something funny today or was there a situation that made someone get upset?  

Narrowing the conversation topics can help you get a handle on what's really happening.