Sleep Hygiene in Older Children and Teens
Good quality sleep is an important part of health. Sleep allows the brain and the body to rest and reset. Sleep deprivation in children can lead to daytime sleepiness, behavioral issues, anxiety, and even poor nutrition and obesity. Previously we have discussed safe sleeping techniques for infants, but today we will tackle sleep needs and sleep hygiene in older children and teens.
How much sleep do older children need?
Required amounts of sleep differs by age, but all children require more sleep than expected. Many do not obtain anywhere close to the amount of sleep they need to stay healthy.
Children aged 6-12 years old should have 9-12 hours of sleep, while teenagers need 8-10 hours.
Your particular child may need slightly more or less than these ranges, however most fall somewhere in the middle. Take a close look at how much sleep your child is getting – check when he or she is actually falling asleep, not just when he or she is going to bed.
Make sleep a priority for your child. Keep a regular bedtime routine even as children get older.
Dangers of sleep deprivation
There are many negative consequences of sleep deprivation, especially on the developing brain. Data from national survey has shown that 87% of high school students in the US report getting far less than the recommended amount of sleep for age (https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2015/10/among-teens-sleep-deprivation-an-epidemic.html). In fact, in 2014 the American Academy of Pediatrics declared the issue of sleep deprivation in teens to be a public health epidemic.
- Mood & emotion: higher incidences of anxiety, depression, thoughts of suicide and even suicidal attempts are seen in sleep deprived teens. The inability of the brain to rest adequately may prevent the brain from processing emotions correctly, which can lead to or exacerbate underlying mood disorders.
- Obesity: many observational studies (tracking large numbers of children over time) have shown convincing evidence of association between smaller amounts of sleep and obesity.
- Critical thinking: sleep reinforces learning and memory, and mental tasks are more easily performed when adequate sleep is obtained. Older children and teens’ school performance will suffer if the brain is sleep deprived.
- Accidents and injuries: along with decreases in critical thinking skills, sleep-deprived individuals are at higher risks for accidents and injuries. This can be due to slower reaction times, falling asleep while driving, or poor choices regarding risk behaviors.
Get rid of screens
After years of talking to older children and teens about sleep issues, I would submit that screen time is the number one cause of sleep disturbance in this age group. They stay up late watching television, chatting on their phones, interacting on social media. This is a multi-tiered problem:
- The blue light emitted from screens alters the natural sleep cycle. This has been studied and proven. Avoiding screens for an hour prior to going to bed can improve this phenomenon.
- Televisions, radios, video games, tablets can all be distractions when trying to sleep, and actually prevent quality sleep from occurring.
- Cell phones are incredibly disrupting. The constant chiming of alerts disturbs sleep cycles and prevents deep sleep from being achieved. Studies have shown that anxiety levels rise if phone alerts are not checked quickly.
Avoid over-scheduling
Honestly, this could be an entire post by itself. American families are increasingly over-scheduled, with very little down time. Teenagers in particular are attempting to balance challenging school work, after school activities, jobs, sports, and family commitments. This over-scheduling leads to late nights spent attempting to finish up homework…which leads to tiredness and mental fog during school hours the next day…which leads to more time at home attempting to learn what was missed in class. It’s a vicious cycle, and it is up to parents to help break it.
If you notice your teen staying up late doing homework, falling asleep during the daytime, or sleeping long hours over the weekend to “catch up,” then it may be time to sit down and reevaluate the situation. Take a break from certain activities, change class schedules if possible. Do everything you can to ensure your teen gets the sleep he or she desperately needs.
If you enjoyed this post, please sign up below to subscribe for blog emails. You will receive notification when new posts are available. If you do not receive a welcome email upon registering, please check your spam folder.
