7 Sleeping Habits For Your Teenager

Adolescence is a time of many changes. Not only does the body change, it changes everything. At this age there are psychological, emotional and social changes that affect sleep habits.

Pediatricians explain that during adolescence there is a normal delay in the onset of sleep, and that is why it is necessary for your child to sleep more than in previous years.

It is essential that your adolescent child learn to sleep well and promote healthy sleep habits, which, in addition to a good rest, provide proper physical and mental development.

Respecting the hours of sleep and having good sleep habits is essential for the health and well-being of any person, but above all it is important to take care of him during adolescence.

Good habits are fostered over time

Explain to your child that using cell phones, tablets, or computers in the bedroom, especially at bedtime, makes it difficult to fall asleep. Also give him a good example, in this regard, so he will learn to disconnect before going to bed.

In adolescence, bad sleep habits begin to take hold. Teenagers often sleep through the weekend to rest what they couldn’t in the week, which isn’t bad for a couple of hours.

However, if they sleep until noon, it will be difficult for them to sleep at night and they will begin to create a vicious cycle.

They should also bear in mind that not getting enough rest has negative consequences for the academic performance and social relationships of the adolescent, who, due to lack of sleep, may feel irritable, sad or with little ability to concentrate.

7 healthy sleep habits

• Doing physical activity helps regulate sleep hours and improve your spirits. It is recommended that these activities be carried out during the day
• If your children are used to taking a nap, it should not last longer than 45 minutes and it should be in the early afternoon
• It is also good that you teach your children to relax and express their emotions, this will help them greatly to face the challenges of adolescence.
• Try to avoid stimulating drinks like coffee, chocolate, cola, or energy drinks at bedtime
• In the same way, it is beneficial that at least one hour before sleeping they avoid being in contact with bright screens such as cell phones, tablets, computers or televisions, which reduce the ability to fall asleep.

• It is ideal for your child to know that consuming drugs such as tobacco, alcohol, among others, not only ruins their sleep but also has very harmful effects on their health in general.
• It is good that at home there is a favorable environment for sleep, especially in the late afternoon and early at night. Lowering the lights in the rooms and controlling the temperature also promotes sleep

How much should a teenager sleep?

Recently published research indicates that adolescents need about nine hours of sleep each night ; so if your child gets up every day at 6:00 am to go to class, he should go to bed at least at 9:00 pm. And that’s exactly where the dilemma lies.

These same studies indicate that the majority of adolescents in our time have problems falling asleep, especially because they are exposed late into the night to activities that keep their brains very active.

It is also known that during this stage, the body’s circadian rhythm (a kind of internal biological clock) and makes adolescents tend to fall asleep later at night and therefore wake up later in the morning. This is because adolescent brains make the brain hormone melatonin much later in the night compared to other adults and children, making it difficult for them to fall asleep.

And it is possible that this delay in the sleep cycle and the waking state is so marked that it affects them during their daily functioning and that is why they are usually always so sleepy and feel so irritable, which is why it is recommended that they learn to have good sleep habits from an early age. That will save them from insomnia.