{"id":3465,"date":"2025-10-13T01:36:49","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T01:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodlife247.com\/?p=3465"},"modified":"2025-10-13T01:36:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T01:36:49","slug":"sweet-dreams-getting-teens-the-sleep-they-need-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodlife247.com\/?p=3465","title":{"rendered":"Sweet Dreams: Getting Teens the Sleep They Need"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Only about 8% of teens get the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep a night, and that\u2019s no small matter. Research shows that consistent sleep deprivation can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, increased risk of catching the flu and the common cold, and makes it difficult to focus and do well in school. It doesn\u2019t have to be this way. There\u2019s a lot that parents can do to help their teens get the sleep they need. If you\u2019re looking for teen parenting tips<\/strong>, here\u2019s what the experts suggest:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep a Consistent Sleep Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help your teens keep a consistent sleep schedule. Child psychologist Dr. Alison Baker says that \u201cconsistency is really, really crucial in terms of building healthy sleep habits.\u201d In other words, encourage your teens to go to sleep and wake up around the same time every day \u2013 and that includes weekends. \u201cIf a kid\u2019s sleep schedule shifts dramatically on the weekends \u2013 staying up most of the night and sleeping until midafternoon Saturday and Sunday \u2013 the chances of getting back to normal Sunday night are slim,\u201d says Professor Juliann Garey of NYU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Limit Afternoon Naps<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Limit afternoon naps, no matter how tired they may be, when they get back from school. Naps make it hard to fall asleep at night, let alone at their regular time. If they really can\u2019t stay awake in the afternoon, encourage them to take a short nap. \u201cSleeping for more than 20 minutes,\u201d says child psychologist Dr. Daniel Lewin, \u201ccan throw off their nighttime sleep schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turn Off Electronics Before Bedtime<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cellphones and laptops also make it hard for teens to fall asleep at night. The problem isn\u2019t just that they\u2019re texting with friends, posting on social media, and playing videogames instead of sleeping: the so-called blue light that electronic devices emit sends a signal to their brains that suppresses the production of melatonin and prevents them from feeling tired. Experts agree that teens can avoid this problem by putting away these electronic devices well before bedtime. As Dr. Lewin says, \u201cLeave a buffer zone of at least an hour before going to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents may think that teens will rebel against this concept, but clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Nalin says, \u201cnot having access to electronics and social media just might cause your teen to become bored and decide to go to sleep on his or her own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 And Charge Them Outside Their Bedroom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t tempt your teens to turn on their phones or computers once they\u2019re in bed. The best way to avoid that is to insist that they charge their devices anywhere in the house except their bedroom. \u201cConsider having your teen leave their device in an area of the house that\u2019s not their bedroom,\u201d says registered nurse Mary Sweeney. \u201cThat\u2019ll discourage them from reaching for it after they\u2019ve shut off the lights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reorganize Their Homework<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can help your teens stay away from electronics before they go to bed by having them do the homework that requires online access in the afternoon, and leaving offline homework for the evening. Have them do most of their homework right after they get home from school so that they can relax and unwind in the evening. \u201cAnything to prevent teens from completing important deadlines at the end of the day,\u201d says Ms. Mostafavi, \u201cwill make it easier to wind down for bed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Create an Unwinding Routine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it\u2019s time to wind down for the night, have your teen follow a set pattern. A nighttime routine, says Ms. Mostafavi, will \u201cget their body into sleep mode and send the right signals to the brain that it\u2019s time to snooze.\u201d This could be anything from taking a hot bath or shower before they go to bed, to doing breathing exercises or writing in a journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avoid Caffeinated Drinks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, encourage your teens to limit their caffeine intake, especially in the afternoon and evening. They should avoid energy drinks, which often have more caffeine than coffee and tea. \u201cIf they\u2019re craving something hot to drink,\u201d says Kevin Asp, the founder of SomnoSure<\/em>, a sleep medicine company, \u201cthen recommend a warm cup of herbal tea. One or two strong cups of tea can help them mellow out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Only about 8% of teens get the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep a night, and that\u2019s no small matter. Research shows that consistent sleep deprivation can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, increased risk of catching the flu and the common cold, and makes it difficult to focus and do well in school. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[19],"class_list":{"0":"post-3465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-24 00:23:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"authors":[{"term_id":19,"user_id":1,"is_guest":0,"slug":"admin_7odr8iqj","display_name":"admin","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1feee162e18d4afc874b0031f2d89eb6bdad45c74ffc261dcdf93c2cd863d4d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodlife247.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodlife247.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodlife247.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodlife247.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodlife247.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/goodlife247.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3466,"href":"https:\/\/goodlife247.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3465\/revisions\/3466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodlife247.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodlife247.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodlife247.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3465"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodlife247.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fppma_author&post=3465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}