Is Your Teenager Getting Enough Sleep? – The Importance of Teenage Sleep
Being a teenager is exciting! Games to play, parties to go to, who has time to sleep? With so many distractions today, people—especially the younger ones or the teenagers—are having a hard time getting sufficient sleep. However lack of sleep can affect our day to day activities and our health. Many teens perform poorly in school mainly because they lack sufficient sleep to maintain concentration and focus.
All about teenage sleep
If you are one of those parents whose teens are not getting the right amount of sleep, here are some tips that you can share to them which may help.
1. Ask them to cut down on the caffeine. You decide what foods and drinks enter your home when you are shopping and you can avoid coffee, sodas, chocolate and energy drinks. Energy drinks are aimed at teenagers and are extremely high in caffeine. You cannot monitor their routines outside your home, so it is a must to remind them to cut out on these foods and drinks. You can do this by telling them the bad effects of caffeine not only how it affects their sleep but their overall health as well.
2. Alcohol should not be used as an aid for sleeping. Many adults resort to alcohol to fall asleep fast. Since their bodies are much older, they can tolerate the effects of alcohol but this should not be the case among the younger ones. If you are a parent, try to tell your child that although alcohol may help him or her to fall asleep, it may cause disturbances that may lead to lesser quality of sleep. Aside from not really helping them to get better sleep, it may also affect their overall health and even physical appearance since too much alcohol may cause early skin aging.
3. Teach them how to relax before bedtime. You can do this by spending time with the teen and talk about how he or she should handle the everyday stress either in school, at home or caused simply by growing up. If your child feels able to communicate with you, they be able to relax more and increase their chances of a peaceful night’s sleep. You could also recommend relaxing activities such as reading or practicing yoga which are good for relieving worry and stress.
4. Encourage them to have regular exercise. Exercise is an important way to help people of any age to sleep well at night. Explain to your child the importance of having just the right amount of exercise to prevent teenage insomnia and achieving optimum health. To make it more effective, join your teenager in doing regular exercises such as light jogging or brisk walking. If he or she sees that you are “walking your talk” there is greater chances for him or her to follow your example.
5. Have a cut off point for TV and the internet. So they can get more quality sleep don’t let your child have a TV or computer in their bedroom. You can monitor their activities much better if those gadgets are in the living area of your home. You may have to watch their cell phone as well since these can also be connected to the internet nowadays.
Telling teenagers what to do is not easy, but lack of sleep can lead to poor school results and health issues such as depression. Teenage sleep requirements are at least 8 ½ hours sleep per night so they need you to keep on their back to ensure they get it!
