Anyone else think their bedtime battles would get easier as the kids got older? Me too! But it turns out teens are just as hard to get to bed as toddlers. And we’re not alone. According to the CDC, about 72.7% of U.S. high school students don’t get the recommended 8 hours of sleep on school nights.
As moms, we instinctively know sleep is important, and science backs us up. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, lack of sleep makes it harder to pay attention, control impulses, and do well at school. Good sleep supports mental health. So the bedtime battle is worth fighting. Here are five things you can do right now to help your teen get the sleep they need.
1. Help your teen stay on a schedule.
We all get better rest if sleep and wake times are kept fairly standard from day to day. This is tough with teens who juggle school, sports, part-time jobs, and busy social lives. But the experts at the Mayo Clinic say parents should help teens curb radical schedule changes as much as possible. In other words, even if you don’t have to get up for school the next day, staying up until 3 a.m. playing video games or socializing on the weekend is a bad idea and may disrupt the sleep-wake cycle for several days after.
2. Help your teen make good choices with time commitments.
Just like some small children put more on their plates than they can eat, sometimes teens get involved in more activities than they can reasonably handle. My mom’s classic line was, “You’re burning the candle at both ends.” It drove me crazy, but she was right. If your teen has a job, limit work hours to 20 or less each week. Help teens project how much practice and prep time each extracurricular will require when they sign up. Our printable Extracurricular Time Worksheet is a great way to lay out a weekly schedule and look for signs of overcommitment.
3. Understand the effect of screens on sleep.
Most parents probably think if they force teens to turn off electronics at bedtime, they’ve done all they can. But the hour before bedtime should be screen-free as well. The lights from screens stimulate the brain and make it difficult to fall asleep for some time after they’re off. If you find it difficult to limit your teen’s screen exposure that early in the evening, at least require him or her to turn down the screen’s brightness in the hour before bedtime to lessen the negative effect at lights out.
4. Use bright light in the mornings.
Puberty changes a teen’s internal clock, delaying the time he or she starts feeling sleepy and awakens. So you’re working against biology in the morning. The same bright light that’s a negative late at night can be your teen’s friend come wake time. As much as your son or daughter will groan when you pull back those curtains and let the rising sun in, doing so will help establish the right sleep-wake rhythm.
5. Watch out for caffeine.
With more teens getting into the coffee culture, many are taking in higher levels of caffeine than parents realize. If your teen struggles with sleep issues, pay attention to how much caffeine he or she’s drinking in the form of coffee, espresso, soft drinks, and energy drinks. The quick jolt of energy a teen receives on the front end doesn’t come without a cost. Even if your teen falls asleep easily, the sleep will not be as restful if too much caffeine is consumed during the day.
For more information from pediatricians, read this full article on the subject on the American Academy of Pediatrics website.
How do you help your teens get the sleep they need each night?
