Nine hours of nightly sleep may be hard to achieve for a busy teen. But there are some practical ways that you can help as a parent. These tips are provided by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine:
Discuss the importance of sleep with your teen. He or she will be more motivated to go to bed early if your teen understands the benefits of sleep. Ask your teen to complete the Cleveland Adolescent Sleepiness Questionnaire.
Together with your teen decide on a bed time for school nights. An ideal bed time would allow your teen to get about nine hours of sleep each night. But keep in mind that teens often have trouble falling asleep before 10 p.m. This table shows how your teen’s bed time would be affected by three different wake times:
Sleep
Need |
Wake
Time |
Bed
Time |
Wake
Time |
Bed
Time |
Wake
Time |
Bed
Time |
| About 9 hours |
5:30 a.m. |
8:15 p.m. |
6:30 a.m. |
9:15 p.m. |
7:30 a.m. |
10:15 p.m. |
Encourage your teen to go to bed and wake up at reasonable times on weekends. Sleeping into the afternoon on Saturday will make it hard for your teen to return to a school-week schedule on Monday.
Open the blinds or curtains in the morning to expose your teen to bright sunlight. This helps set his or her body clock for the day. Your teen will be able to fall asleep easier that night.
Keep the TV and computer out of your teen’s bedroom.
- Set a communication curfew.
Set a time after which your teen can no longer talk on the phone or send text messages, instant messages or e-mails.
- Help your teen plan ahead.
Your teen may be a procrastinator. This can cause him or her to stay up much too late to get a lot of schoolwork done at once. Help your teen learn how to prioritize school assignments and to do some work ahead of time.
- Limit after-school activities.
Your teen can’t do it all. Help him or her set a reasonable limit on after-school activities.
Let your teen focus on schoolwork during the week. He or she can do household chores on the weekend.
- Prepare for the next school day.
Help your teen prepare at night for the next day of school. You can make lunch while he or she picks out clothes and gathers school supplies. This will allow a little more time for sleep in the morning.
More Information
Your Teen’s Bed Time
Signs Your Teen Needs Sleep
Teens & Sleep Loss
Sleep Tips for Students
Teens & School Start Times
Cleveland Adolescent Sleepiness Questionnaire
Reviewed by David Kuhlmann, MD
Updated Dec. 16, 2009
