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Is Your Adolescent Sleeping Enough?
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Are they being lazy? Why do they sleep all day
long and then stay up all night?
During a routine well visit, my son's pediatrician told me (it's amazing that my
son, who is larger than I am, still sees a pediatrician) that when our kids
reach puberty, they begin to stay up late and tend to sleep later in the day.
No, he assured me, they are not being lazy.
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After further research I found that teens seem
to develop the late night/late morning sleeping routine because their circadian
rhythms change. Circadian rhythms are our body's natural 24 hour metabolic
rhythm. This rhythm affects things such as
temperature, hormonal changes sleep/wake patterns and other physiological and
biological processes (our internal body clock).
Upon further digging, I found that circadian rhythms change because of a hormone
called melatonin. This hormone regulates our body's sleep/wake cycles.
Apparently teens produce their melatonin later at night than the rest of the
human race. This is
why they have a need to go to sleep later and wake up later.
How much sleep do teens need?
According to the National Sleep Foundation, (NSF) adolescents should get between
8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep. This is next to impossible with their current
school/activity schedules. Right when their bodies are telling them to go to bed
late and sleep late,
their High School forces them to get up early.
My heart goes out to my teen and others. They have to concentrate on grades,
become well rounded students in order to apply and be accepted to the college of
their choice (or parent's). There's peer pressure, youth ministries, gymnastics,
football, basketball and/or a part time job. With all of these pressures, the
only way they can even try to meet their obligations is to try to ignore their
rhythm and miss some of their much needed sleep.
Affects of missed sleep:
In a 2006 poll on teens and sleep conducted by NSF, they found more than one
half of adolescents reported that they felt too tired/sleepy during the day
(51%) and or had difficulty falling asleep (51%) at least once a week within the
past two weeks.
Medical research shows that there is a direct connection between lack of sleep
and the following:
Inefficient information processing
Forgetfulness
Increased irritability
Anxiety
Depression
Temporarily lowered IQ (while sleep deprived)
Falling asleep in class (research states 20% of HS students do this).
Poor athletic performance
Slow reaction time in driving.
Remedies for lack of sleep:
What can we do to help our teens get an adequate amount of sleep? Let's face it,
they are no longer toddlers so we can't put them in their cribs and make them
take a nap. However, there are a few things that can be done to help them out:
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Set consistent sleep/wake times, including
weekends. Sometimes it's difficult to adhere to these schedules because of
other obligations, but do the best you can.
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They should relax for about a half hour before
going to bed. Cut out stimulating things like TV, videogames and the
computer. Try reading instead.
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Avoid caffeine, especially after lunch.
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Make the bedroom comfortable, cool and dark
for sleeping and let the light shine in the morning. The light/dark cycles
send signals the brain for sleeping and waking.
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Avoid all night cram sessions. Remember, the
brain, like the rest of the body, needs rest too. It works better when it's
well rested.
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Nutrition and exercise. A balanced diet along
with adequate exercise promotes deep restful sleep.
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Nap - Sometimes a nap strategically placed
during the day can serve as a pick me up. The nap should not be too long or
else it will affect night time sleeping.
Raising teens is a tough job. Who knows, a
properly rested teenager might be a very agreeable teenager. Good Luck!
by Felicia Williams
Felicia Williams is a freelance writer and
owner/webmaster of the family oriented site
Tidbits and Stuff and the Hudson
Valley travel guide site
Visit Hudson Valley.
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