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By Melissa Tennen, HealthAtoZ writer
It's like pulling teeth to get your teen out of bed in the mornings. Yet, he still won't go to bed before midnight. Then he's a grump all day.
It's already obvious that your teen's body is going through drastic changes. For many teens, sleeping is one of them.
Teens actually need more sleep than children and adults - about nine hours a night. To top it off, their internal clocks (the body's circadian rhythm) have reset, meaning the body is told to stay up and wake up later. Your teen may be wide awake at midnight even though she is short on sleep.
We all have a hormone called melatonin that regulates our sleep/wake cycles. For teens, this hormone is produced later in the night than it is for children and adults.
School start times create a dilemma. Many schools start their days around 7:30, which means teens get up around 6. Do the math and it adds up to a sleep deficit. An hour or two of lost sleep for one night may be fine. But over time, it adds up, impairing every facet of life - studying, test-taking, sports participation, working and driving. Sleep-deprived teens are also more vulnerable to depression and other problems.
The larger this sleep debt is, the stronger the urge to sleep during any particular moment of the day.
Advise your teen to do the following:
- Set a regular bedtime and stick to it, even on the weekends. He should not stray from this schedule too often. If he does, he shouldn't put off his bedtime for more than an hour, and should wake up within two hours of his regular schedule.
- Consume no caffeine after lunch because it stays in the body for six hours or more. Soda, black tea and coffee usually have caffeine. Nicotine and alcohol can also disrupt sleep.
- Do something relaxing before bed and avoid anything that might be stimulating, such as playing computer games, talking with a friend or studying within one hour of bedtime. The television can also interfere because the flickering light can keep your teen from sleeping well.
- Get into bright light in the morning as soon as possible. This tells her brain when to wake up.
- Learn how much sleep he needs. If he is waking up tired, he probably isn't getting enough sleep.
- Avoid pulling an all-nighter. This will make her less alert the next day and interfere with her ability to concentrate in school.
Sleep is important for good health and essential for doing well in school and staying safe on the road.
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External Sources
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The National Sleep Foundation
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Nemours Foundation
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This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.
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