IMPROVING TEEN SLEEP
BIOLOGY OF TEEN SLEEP
Teenagers have delayed secretion in the sleep hormone, melatonin. This causes them to feel sleepy later, and wake later in the morning.
BETTER SLEEP means
happier and healthier teens:
Poor mental health, academic challenges and substance-use are common issues during the teenager years. Research shows good sleep can have a positive impact on these factors.
Like nutritious foods and exercise, sleep is fundamental to health and reaching one’s full potential.
2 OUT OF EVERY 3 TEENAGERS IN OUR COUNTRY REPORT NOT GETTING ADEQUATE SLEEP
CONTRIBUTING FACTORS:
- Early school start times
- Poor sleep habits
- Demanding schedules including homework and extracurricular activities
IMPROVING TEEN SLEEP
4 STEPS TO TAKE:
Follow good sleep habits:
- Recognize sleepiness – yawning and looking tired are obvious signs – Inability to focus, frequent irritability, poor grades and substance use can all indicate sleep deprivation.
- Avoid substance use and stop drinking caffeine 6 hours before bed.
- Allow enough time for sleep – avoid over-scheduling. NOTE: doing homework when well rested can take less time than trying to get through it when you are tired.
- Keep a regular sleep schedule – Sleeping in on the weekends is very tempting, especially for teenagers, as they tend to drift back to their biologic sleep time – but try not to vary your wake time by more than two hours.
- Wind down before bed – chill out, read, listen to music, avoid talking about touchy subjects.
- Dim room lights in the evening, use the night-mode on phones, have the bedroom dark at night.
- Get bright light in the morning – eat breakfast by a window, walk to school/work.
- Make the bedroom a media-free area and avoid electronic devices 1-2 hours before sleep.
- Get regular physical activity during the daytime.
Avoid drowsy driving which can be as dangerous as drunk driving. About half of drowsy driving related crashes involve those under the age of 25.
If the school start time is too early (before 8:30 am) to allow for a healthy amount of sleep at the proper time to support the developing brain and body:
- Go outside the district for classes (i.e. online courses, PSEO, College in the Schools) to allow for a more flexible schedule or consider switching to a later start charter or private school
- Work with the school on an independent education plan (IEP)
Talk to a healthcare provider if the tiredness persists.
- They may refer you to a sleep center to see if an underlying sleep disorder is a factor
- A sleep specialist may be able to provide a written note to the school, to allow for a later start time, based on medical need.
More Information
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Policy Statement: August 2014
The AAP was the first organization to strongly support the efforts of school districts to optimize sleep in students by starting middle and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m. Many other health care institutions followed with similar recommendations
MN Sleep Society School Start Time Toolkit
Minnesota sleep professionals created this toolkit in order to share the science behind later school start times and help teenagers, parents and school leaders. Several schools in our state have moved to healthier start times and superintendents outlined the process they found helpful, so other communities could take the same steps.
This is a coalition of health professionals, sleep scientists, educators, parents, students, and other concerned citizens dedicated to increasing public awareness about the relationship between sleep and school hours
Take the “4 Week Sleep Challenge” to learn more about your sleep pattern.
The better your sleep habits, the better you’ll feel!