When Routines Change: Helping Families Create a Summer Break That Works
Summer is a chance to slow down—but that doesn’t mean families should go structure-free. By guiding parents about summer routines, we can help kids thrive during the off-season, and help caregivers feel less like they’re barely surviving it.
Let’s be honest: for many families, summer isn’t a break—it’s a logistical high-wire act. School ends, structure dissolves, and parents are left to cobble together a patchwork of camps, childcare, screen time negotiations, and vague hopes for enrichment.
For kids, the transition can be equally jarring. Sleep schedules shift, social routines disappear, and unstructured days, while relaxing for some, can lead to behavioral challenges or emotional dysregulation for others.
As healthcare providers, we have an opportunity to help families prepare for this shift with intention, not panic.
Why Summer Structure Still Matters
Routines are more than just daily habits. They’re reliable regulatory tools. For many kids, especially those with ADHD, anxiety, or autism, structure provides predictability, safety, and emotional stability. When that scaffolding disappears in summer, even temporarily, we often see spikes in dysregulation: increased meltdowns, irritability, and difficulty with transitions.
This doesn’t mean families need to build a military-grade schedule. But as clinicians, we can guide them toward maintaining a lightweight, flexible routine—something like:
- Wake up
- Eat breakfast
- Get dressed
- Play outside
- Quiet time or reading
- Dinner and bedtime routines
This kind of rhythm gives kids something to expect, even when the rest of the day is open-ended.
The Benefits of Boredom With Boundaries
Summer also creates space for a developmental milestone we don’t always name: learning how to be bored. When we coach parents to tolerate a bit of boredom (and resist the urge to fill every silence with a screen), we’re helping kids build creativity, self-direction, and frustration tolerance.
Suggest parents frame boredom as part of the day—not a failure of planning. For example: "From 2 to 3 is quiet time. You can draw, build, read, or rest. It’s your choice, but it’s not screen time and it’s not time to ask me for a snack every five minutes."
This kind of boundary both supports autonomy and reduces reactive parenting.
Screen Time and Sleep: The Summer Slippage
Two areas worth flagging with every family: screens and sleep.
Sleep often deteriorates in summer. Kids go to bed later but still wake up early, leading to overtired brains and short fuses. Providers can support families by encouraging:
- Bedtime and wake-up times that stay within an hour of the school-year schedule
- A gradual return to school-time sleep routines starting 3 weeks before the first day back
- No electronics in bedrooms—yes, even Alexa playing their favorite song before bed
- Reinforcement that bedrooms are for rest, not entertainment
Screen time tends to creep up, especially when parents are working from home or patching together care. Rather than preach zero tolerance, we can offer realistic advice:
- Set daily screen windows (e.g., 10–11 a.m. and 3–4 p.m.)
- Keep screens out of meals and bedrooms
- Use timers, routines, or visual schedules to help kids anticipate screen transitions
- Encourage device-free time outdoors each day—even if it’s just 15 minutes
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s predictability.
A Note on Neurodivergence
Summer can be especially difficult for kids who rely on school-year structure to stay regulated. If you’re working with neurodivergent patients, ask specifically about summer plans: Is there a consistent caregiver? What structure can be replicated from the school year to help them feel grounded?
Even a printed schedule or daily checklist can make a dramatic difference for these kids.
What Providers Can Do
When meeting with patients and their families, here are a few helpful questions and prompts to keep in your summer well-check toolkit:
- What does a typical summer day look like at home?
- How are sleep and screen time going now that school’s out?
- Would a simple daily schedule be helpful for your family?
And one of my favorites: "Summer is a change in routine, not a break from one. How can we make that shift work for your family?"
Summer is a chance to slow down—but that doesn’t mean families should go structure-free. With a few thoughtful supports, we can help kids thrive during the off-season, and help parents feel less like they’re barely surviving it.
Let’s use this Mental Health Awareness Month to remind families that emotional wellness doesn’t take the summer off.
Additional helpful reads
Check out these helpful blog posts for more insights from Dr. Monika Roots.
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