Make Sure That Your Teens Are Getting Enough Sleep

Are your teens getting enough sleep?  Chances are, they are not.  Most of us don’t even realize how much sleep that our teens need.  Teens need an average of about 9 hours of sleep a night, according to The National Sleep Foundation.  Some teenagers can get by on 8 hours but the majority really need that additional hour.  Most teenagers do not get nearly enough sleep.  Why don’t they?

There are so many distractions vying for our teens attention.  A large percentage of teenagers have televisions in their bedrooms that are going all hours of the night.  They have cell phones that are pinging with new text messages as long as they will respond.  In addition to that fact, the pattern of a teenagers sleep shifts during the adolescent years so that they have a difficult time falling asleep early.  They naturally want to stay up later and sleep in later.  That is not always possible, especially when school is in session.

So what can we as parents do to make sure that our teens are getting the sleep that they need to grow and develop properly?  We can limit distractions.  It isn’t going to go over very well if you take the television away your teen has always had but maybe you can have them turn it of by a certain time.  The same rule can apply to the cell phone.

Teens also tend to drink a lot of sodas, many of which have caffeine in them.  Caffeine makes it difficult to fall asleep.  Buy your teen caffeine-free soda or better yet, choose healthier drink alternatives to have on hand for your teenager.

You need to set a good example for your teenager.  If you are staying up until the wee hours cleaning or working on things each night, your teenager isn’t going to get the message that sleep is important.  Make sure you get the rest you need, too.