Is your teenager jet lagged? 10 steps to better sleep
If you have teenagers, it might be hard to view those horizontal bodies on your couch as needing more sleep.
But experts say 70 percent of teenagers are actually sleep deprived, getting less than eight hours a night. It’s a problem that has profound effects on their mental health and school performance, and puts them at risk for obesity, diabetes and behavioral issues.
“I definitely believe it has an effect on the health of teenagers, and probably most prominently on their mental health,” said Victoria Sharaf, MD, a pediatrician who recently joined Seaside Pediatrics in West Yarmouth.
Dr. Sharaf knows about sleep deprivation: She and her husband have a 3-month-old son and a 2 ½-year-old daughter. “Sleep deprivation really worsens anxiety and depression,” she said. “Then, in turn, anxiety and depression can often affect sleep. So, it’s a vicious cycle.”
High-schoolers reported getting an average of only 6.7 hours of sleep a night, according to a 2020 report by Stanford University and NBC News. But they need closer to 9 hours, or an average of 8 to 10 a night, Dr. Sharaf said. She and others partly blame the lack of sleep on early high school start times, which are in opposition to the typical teenage circadian rhythm of late nights, as well as the temptation of screens and overloaded schedules of homework, sports and after-school jobs.
“There’s also this tendency to be up later on the weekends and then sleep later on weekends, and then not be able to fall asleep on Sunday nights,” she said. “So, they’re living in a state of being jet lagged all the time.”
What Parents Can Do
Parents can help teens take responsibility for sleep by taking a collaborative approach, Dr. Sharaf said.
“They're on their way to becoming independent adults,” she said. “So really helping them to take responsibility and saying, ‘Let’s problem-solve this together. I have noticed that you seem to have trouble staying awake in school,’ or, ‘You seem to feel really down and sad on days when you haven't slept well. Can we sit down and problem-solve and think of things that we could do to improve this?’"
One important step: Check with your pediatrician to make sure your teen’s lack of sleep is not related to any physical or mental health issues such as anxiety. For example, restless leg syndrome can make it difficult to fall asleep, and snoring can be a sign of sleep apnea, which interrupts restorative sleep.
Dr. Sharaf also had some specific suggestions on how to improve teenage sleep – techniques that might also help parents set an example or improve their own sleep as well:
- Try to go to bed about the same time every night, or at least don’t shift bedtime more than two hours.
- Discourage hours-long after-school or weekend naps. Try to stick to 20 to 30 minutes.
- Ban phones from bedrooms when it’s time to sleep. Charge them in another room. Even a phone set to vibrate can be disturbing.
- If teens are wakeful at night, suggest they read or write in a journal, avoiding screens.
- Make a social media contract with boundaries on screen time.
- Encourage teens to read the labels on drinks so they know how much caffeine they are consuming, and encourage them to consume less of it.
- Encourage teens to get plenty of exercise.
- Don’t use your bed for anything except for sleep. Do homework or watch movies in another room.That way your body gets the message that beds are for snoozing.
- If homework overload is an issue, either brainstorm with your teen to manage it or work with the school.
- Remember that your pediatrician can be a partner in solving sleep issues and, when it comes to health, might have more influence over your teenager than you do!
