Student sleeping daily on bus

[GatezRN]

New school nurse here!

Just now had a teacher come to me to discuss a student. She is concerned because bus driver reports that the student (5yo) is sleeping daily on the bus to and from school. Teacher is going to call parent to discuss the issue.

From a nursing standpoint there is nothing in the health record which is concerning. Is there anything else I should be looking for? Appears as a healthy, well nourished child. I asked the teacher to inquire about bed time, sleep pattern, and interruptions in sleep with mom when she speaks with her.

My instinct tells me that this young student is still adjusting to a full-day of school still. What do you all think?

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

,my son fell asleep on the bus all the time if it wasn't a loud bus. Many of my patients sleep on the bus. Sometimes the motion plus the sound of the engine was sleep inducing. More interesting if they didn't open the windows or the driver refused to put on the A/C my kiddo would come off the bus red as a lobster, hot and sweaty in a sleep induced haze. Likely not a medical issue. Some kids are just put to sleep by a car/bus ride

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

I cannot tell you how many times my sitter chased the bus down the street because my kiddo was sound asleep and never stepped to the front when the bus stopped!! He was in K.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

i think you guys nailed it. some kids just tend to fall asleep in a moving vehicle. Busses make more white noise and add the full day of kindergarten when the child probably isn't used to having a full day of school and demands being placed on him and you're sure to have a kid that dozes off. Makes me tired just thinking about it.

[fetch, BSN, RN]

I could see calling home to speak to the parents just to make sure there's nothing else going on - I had a kid falling asleep and lo and behold, he was allowed to watch TV until 1am. Well gee, I wonder why he's sleeping during the day?

Most of the time though it is just getting used to school, but a lot of parents will appreciate that you're being proactive and communicating.

[Mandychelle79, ASN, RN]

My son used to sleep on the bus all the time. To school only. Turns out he is phase shifted like his parents ( natural sleep times not in line with school times no matter how early we put him to bed he could not fall asleep till 3 am) and we ended up taking the suggestion of the psychiatrist I work with to help him sleep.

[PrayeRNurse, ASN, RN]

My son sleeps in any and all moving vehicles including the bus! He is a senior in High School this year. Nothing bad has happened due to his sleeping. I blame it on the Rock-N-ROLLER STROLLER I used when he was a baby!LOL!!