• Get Adequate Sleep
  • Teens need 9.25 hours of sleep a night to be fully alert during the day. Even 7 or 8 hours sleep would be a vast improvement over what most teenagers average today.
  • Establish A Regular Sleep/Wake Schedule
  • Choose a reasonable bedtime that will permit enough sleep at night.Then keep a regular sleep-wake schedule on school nights and weekend nights.Do not vary this schedule by more than 1 hour.You have one biological clock, not one for the school week and another for the weekend.We might all consider promoting later school start times for high school, or at least encourage after-school naps.
  • Get Exercise To Stay Fit
  • Thirty to sixty minutes of exercise at least four times a week will lead to better sleep. Avoid exercise too close to bedtime, however, as this stimulates the body at a time when it should be winding down.
  • Limit Caffeine Late In The Day
  • No coffee or cola after 2 P.M. Even the small amounts of caffeine found in chocolate can disrupt nighttime sleep.
  • Make The Bedroom A Relaxing Place
  • Teenager's rooms often take on the look of a post hurricane disaster center. Bedrooms, should be a place where people can relax. Stressful activities requiring concentration, such as homework should not be done in the bedroom. Allow your teen to use the study or dining room table to complete their work. Also make sure that your child's room is dark and quiet while they are sleeping. All these things will help ensure a better night’s sleep and daytime performance.
  • Keep To A Proper Diet
  • Have your teen eat vegetables and fruit, whole-grain cereals and breads, rice, pasta, fish and poultry. Limit their intake of fat and have them avoid fried foods. A good breakfast will also work wonders.
  • At dinner, eating proteins such as chicken, fish, or certain vegetables will prevent hunger pains at night. They should also avoid eating a large or heavy meal within four or five hours of going to bed.
  • Limit Your Time In Bed
  • Teens should go to bed only for that period of time they need for sleep, and sleep only until refreshed. Staying in bed too long promotes shallow and disturbed sleep.
  • If your teen has a hard time falling asleep at night or complains that they do not get tired until the wee hours of the morning, make sure that they are not napping after school. Naps, especially long ones can affect a good nights sleep, and often leaves the person tossing and turning while trying to fall asleep. Remember a well rested person takes 15-20 minutes to fall asleep.
  • Overall, adolescents need to learn to value sleep in order to enjoy life to its fullest.They must do everything in their power to respect the needs of their body for rest. Above all, they owe it to themselves not to settle for anything less than being awake, dynamic and at their best – all day long.

Adolescents need approximately 9.25 hours of sleep each night to be fully alert all day. Unfortunately, they average only around six, leaving them a deficit of more than three hours every night. What keeps them from getting the sleep they need? Early start times at school, homework, social life, athletics, after school jobs and an inability to fall asleep until late at night are all big contributors.

Studies show that the changes taking place in teens’ bodies require them to get more sleep than before puberty. * This explains why they may find it so difficult to get up early in the morning.

In adolescence, their internal biological clock is delayed in secreting the hormone melatonin until 11pm or even midnight.This normal brain substance initiates the sleep process, and accounts for later bedtimes and not being sleepy until midnight even though sleep deprived! The child who once awoke at the crack of dawn and was eager to watch cartoons, especially on Saturday mornings, has turned into a sleepy, young adult who has trouble waking up.

Sleep deprived adolescents are moody, lethargic, and unprepared or unable to learn. Memory, concentration, communication skills and critical and creative thinking can all be significantly impaired.This is why parents need to adjust their child’s sleep schedule to allow more sleep.

The right mattress can also play a large role in the quality of sleep your child receives. Simmons® Company designs their mattresses to help people achieve a high quality of sleep, especially when they are having trouble getting enough sleep. Simmons® also understands the impact of sleep deprivation on adolescents.**

**Sleep behavior statistics and sleep tips from Power Sleep: The Revolutionary Program That Prepares Your Mind for Peak Performance, by Dr. James B. Maas, Ph.D., Megan L.Wherry, David J.Axelrod, Barbara R. Hogan, and Jennifer A. Blumin, HarperPerennial- A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers, 1999.

*Adolescent sleep behavior information provided by the Better Sleep Council, The Good Night Guide (Alexandria, VA: Better Sleep Council, 1993).