Teen Sleep 101 (part 2): The Solution
So your teen has completely turned their sleep schedule around and now they’re awake at night and sleepy in the day. They’re falling asleep in class if they’re able to wake up and go at all. The frustration of having your teen’s grades drop and possibly get kicked out of school because of missed school days prompts you to call for a Dr’s appointment.
Sleep is incredibly important and like any other type of health problem, it should be treated. Here are some tips to not only get your sleep deprived teen sleeping, but to prevent the insomnia in the first place (Check out Teen Sleep 101 part 1).
1. Sleep Time
Set times for going to bed and more importantly waking up are very important. Your teen should be aiming for as average of 9 or 9 and a ½ hours of sleep every night. This includes the weekend when your teen is more likely to stay up and sleep in even later. This means even if they stay up later on a weekend day they should wake up at the same time they would for a school day. This will keep them tired before their normal bedtime and force them to go to bed early rather than continue to stay up later and later each night.
2. Catch-up sleep
If your teen needs to stay up for an important project or activity the way to make up that sleep is always by going to bed early. They should definitely aim for their normal bedtime or preferably earlier.
3. Naps
Napping should be no more than an hour if that. The ideal nap is very short, fifteen or thirty minutes e.g. the catnap. A short nap refreshes for the rest of the day without compromising the sleepiness needed to fall asleep easily at the usual bedtime. This is what happens when your teen naps for an hour or more. They aren’t tired at the normal bedtime and have the energy to stay up later, then sleep-in later pushing their sleep schedule off.
4. Nutrition
Caffeine is in a lot of things your teen enjoys eating or drinking: chocolate, candy bars, soft drinks and café specialty drinks. If your teen is sensitive to caffeine it can prevent them from falling asleep at their normal bedtime even after one cup in the morning. Have them eliminate all caffeinated products from their diet while you’re trying to get them back on sleeping track.
5. Bedtime Regiment
When your teen was a toddler, I’m sure you read to them before bedtime. This was a ritual surrounding bedtime that let them know it is time for bed. Now they must do this for themselves in an effort to cue their brain to prepare for bedtime. This is the process of shutting down their daytime thoughts. Ideally this can start 30 min to an hour before bed so no intense brain activity (e.g. IMing, texting, violent TV or movies, etc). The lights should not be bright and if reading before bed it should be by a dim bulb (e.g. 40 watts or less). Check other things like environmental noise and room temperature for comfort as well. If your teen seems to worry about the day just before bedtime, a worry journal (where they write all their worries and “to do” lists for the next day) can help a lot.
Good sleep is essential to good health. It helps the brain store what it has learned for the day while preparing it to learn more things the next day; it helps with weight loss and weight maintenance; prevents the many complications associated with functioning in a sleep deprived state like car accidents from drowsy driving and poor decision making, and finally good sleep makes your teen less irritable and cranky. Can’t beat that! And if these initial steps don’t work, please go see a specialist in sleep.
Related posts:
Loading ...