Teenagers sleep
If you are the parent of a teenager it is more than likely that on at least one occasion you have got frustrated at them for their sleeping schedule. It is incredibly common for teenagers to go to bed late, wake up late and also suffer from sleep exhaustion, but why? In this blog I’ll run through why your teenager may not be able to help this happening and how as adults we can help support their sleep.
How common are sleep issues in teens?
Dreams has performed a study on 2000 teenagers aged 13-17 looking into this. They found that 68% of teenagers have struggled with poorer sleep health since the start of the pandemic. Their study also revealed some other alarming data.
- 25% of these teenagers have struggled to sleep through the night.
- 45% are not getting the recommended amount of sleep per night (8-10 hours)
- Only 1 in 4 teenagers have talked to their parents about the difficulties they’re having with sleep.
- One in five said they have sought advice from a doctor/counsellor, or used medication such as sleeping pills or CBD.
- 41% of teens can’t sleep at night due to screen time.
- 56% of teens go on social media in bed.
We can see from this that many teenagers have poor sleep habits. The big question lies in how bad is this really, what happens to teenagers if they don’t get enough sleep?
What happens if teenagers don’t sleep enough?
When you start looking into this it can get really scary. It’s important to remember that this is something that can happen, not something that will happen if your teenager isn’t sleeping enough.
- concentration difficulties
- mentally ‘drifting off’ in class
- shortened attention span
- memory impairment
- poor decision making
- lack of enthusiasm
- moodiness and aggression
- depression
- risk-taking behaviour
- slower physical reflexes
- clumsiness, which may result in physical injuries
- reduced sporting performance
- reduced academic performance
- increased number of ‘sick days’ from school because of tiredness
Any combination of these can have a knock on affect on school work at a very important time. That is why it is so vital to try and help your teenager by promoting positive sleep habits.
So what can we do to improve teenagers sleep?
Try to keep bedtime & wake up at the same time:
With your teenager try and decide on a bedtime & wake up time for every day of the week. By going to bed and waking up at the same time every day our body finds it easier to do this. Having lie ins at the weekends and staying up late throws our body clock off so that our teenagers find it harder to get to sleep earlier when they are back to the weekday routine. Obviously there should be flexibility within this, your child is growing up and will want to stay pushing the boundaries & acting like an adult. I’d recommend working with them to decide on a bedtime that the goal is to stick to but it should not stop them from doing things.
Keep a worry pad:
Research has found that teenagers are worrying more and more. Children aged 10-18 are having ever increasing levels of anxiety. During the night is a common time for these issues to worsen as your child is alone in a quiet room with their thoughts. Promote positive communication between you and perhaps suggest the use of a worry pad. This is a private notepad your child can use to write their worries down on whenever they come to them. By writing the worry down it enables the brain to stop thinking about it as much.
Switch off the screens:
Blue light inhibits our sleep hormones meaning our body finds it harder to fall asleep. Phones, TV’s & screens all produce blue light, try to avoid them 2-3 hours before bed to prevent wakefulness at bedtime.
Give caffeine a cut off:
Caffeine can be found in a whole range of food & drink, not just coffee! Try to get your teenager to avoid things such as energy drinks, chocolate, tea & supplements after 3pm. Caffeine can take a really long time to stop impacting your body’s energy levels so you will need a long break period before last consuming it and going to bed.
Prioritise social support:
At this age your children will look to you, their parents for less support and instead turn to their friends. Whilst this is hard it’s vital that they are able to have these conversations with whomever they trust them with. This will help with anxiety and in turn sleep.
Get outside in the daylight:
Being exposed to daylight as soon as they we are awake helps the body wake up. I’d suggest croissants in the garden when your teenager wakes up or an early morning dog walk to try and encourage their body to help them wake up.
What else can we do? If you’re still feeling stumped on how to help your teenager and their sleep, book in your free 15 minute call to find out more about my sleep coaching services.
Sending sweet dreams to you and your (not so) little ones
Emily
xxx