Keep a Regular Sleep Schedule
Your adolescent may find it appealing to stay up late or sleep in on the weekends, but maintaining a consistent sleep routine is essential for them. This can make it easier for them to establish a regular habit, which may result in an improvement in their quality of sleep.
Your teen’s internal clock will be impacted positively if they are exposed to morning sunshine within an hour of waking up. This will enable them to go to sleep sooner and keep to their regular sleep routine.
This is of utmost significance for teenagers due to the fact that melatonin, the hormone that signals to the body that it is time to sleep and is released earlier in the night in children and adults, is secreted later in the night in adolescents.
Cut Down on Your Screen Time
If it’s at all feasible, it’s best for adolescents to avoid using electronic devices like phones, laptops, televisions, and gaming consoles in their bedrooms or while they’re settling down before bed.
Your teen may have trouble falling asleep since the sounds and light from the screen are overstimulating. This may prevent them from sleeping for as long as they normally would and also delay the release of melatonin in their bodies.
In order to maximize one’s chances of falling asleep and staying asleep, the bedroom should be kept as calm, dark, cool, and comfy as possible. Check out these Brooklyn Bedding mattress scores.
Make Sure You Get Some Relaxation Time In Every Night
It’s possible that getting in some light pre-bedtime relaxation can help you get better rest.
You should try to encourage your teen to adopt some relaxing sleep routines that they may undertake before going to bed. Some examples of these might be reading for pleasure, listening to music that puts you in a calm state of mind, or even enjoying a nice hot shower or bath.
Put away your homework, as well as anything else that could be a distraction. This time should seem like a perceptible shift that helps your adolescent psychologically prepare for sleep, and it should be done before bedtime. They could find it less difficult to nod off at the beginning of the night as a result of this.
Be Aware of the Activities That Can Interrupt Your Sleep
Exercise is a fantastic tool for maintaining one’s health, but doing so too close to bedtime is not a good idea. In such case, it runs the risk of making your teen feel too awake to go asleep easily. 5
Eating too late at night may also create heartburn, which can lead to discomfort in the chest and neck. This discomfort can be caused when sleep is disrupted. Consuming food for dinner or snacks at around the same time each day, preferably many hours before going to bed, is recommended. 6
Caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol are all substances that have been linked to sleep disturbances, including insomnia and frequent wakings.
Caffeine is a stimulant that enhances brain activity. It is possible that chocolate, soda, tea, and coffee, as well as energy drinks, all contain caffeine. Nicotine may be found in all forms of tobacco, even smokeless forms of the substance.
Put Your Sleep First
Recognizing the significance of sleep to one’s overall health is one of the most critical things a parent can do for their adolescent child. They may experience a decrease in their emotional well-being as well as in their general quality of life if they do not get enough sleep. If they aren’t getting enough sleep, they also have a higher risk of being involved in an automobile accident.
It is essential to be aware that various sleep problems may manifest themselves throughout the adolescent years. Sleep apnea, which occurs when a person’s breathing is temporarily disrupted while they are sleeping, and narcolepsy, which is characterized by severe daytime drowsiness as well as abrupt sleep episodes, are two examples.
Talk to your teen’s healthcare physician if you notice that they are having trouble falling or staying asleep.