After getting little sleep Monday through Friday, many teenagers attempt to not sleep on the weekends, sometimes getting away from bed after noon. Although they might feel like they're doing their body a favor, they really aren't.
About 80% of teenagers sleep lower than the beneficial nine hours per night, especially in the course of the school week. Staying up late within the evening to complete schoolwork, take part in extracurricular activities, and spend time with family and friends means they often struggle to get up in time for varsity. A number of days of this may exacerbate sleep deprivation.
Sleeping late on Saturdays and Sundays could make up for this shortfall, however it creates an even bigger problem. This allows your teenager's internal clock to drift further away from the external clock, exacerbating the late bedtime shift on school nights. The result: Circadian sleep is disrupted, making it harder to get up once you normally get up.
In fact, by sleeping late on Saturday and Sunday, your teen suffers the equivalent of 5 hours of jet lag when it's time to rise up on Monday morning. The alarm clock could also be saying 6:00 am, but his internal clock is reading 1:00 am. This will make it difficult in your teen to focus and soak up anything at college. When this becomes an everyday pattern, it will probably even have a big effect on mood.
The more prone your child is to changing his or her internal clock, the stricter you have to be about enforcing something closer to a weekday schedule on weekends. Usually falling asleep greater than an hour after waking is asking for trouble when Monday comes again.
Here are some things you'll be able to do to assist your teen get up and get away from bed at an inexpensive time on the weekend and subsequently avoid resetting his internal clock:
- Explain the importance of keeping bedtimes and waking hours relatively consistent on weekends and weekdays. Your teen won't prefer it, but not less than he'll understand why you're getting him away from bed on a weekend morning.
- Expose your teen to loads of vibrant light within the morning. Nothing tells the brain it's time to get up greater than vibrant light. Turn on all bedroom lights, and open all shades and curtains. Consider using timers to activate bedroom lights, and keep lights on within the kitchen or breakfast nook.
- Set an alarm clock (or two, timed just a few minutes apart) across the room and out of doors the bed. Your teen could also be more tempted to roll over and return to sleep in the course of the conversation after getting away from bed.
- Plan a morning walk along with your teen. It might be an early morning trip to the coffee shop for a hot drink and pastry, or a yoga class you'll be able to do together.
- Don't let your teen watch TV for not less than the primary two hours after waking up. You want them to be ready and energetic, not lying in a dark family room watching cartoons.
- Say “no” to daytime naps. Naps will reduce your teen's lack of sleep and make it harder to go to sleep at night, which, in turn, will make it harder for him to get up the subsequent morning.