Soda Kuczkowski, sleep health educator and certified sleep expert is again taking about your kids sleep but with a focus on teens. She says that teens on average need about eight to ten hours of sleep, but research has shown that 73% don’t get enough because their school start times are poorly aligned with their biological clock. Soda says, “Early school start times mean less sleep for teens which can translate into trouble with academic performance, emotional and behavioral problems, health and safety risks.” She says that early mornings are especially hard for teens because these biological changes shift their sleep/wake cycles to later in the day. It’s biology that keeps your kids awake at night and makes them slower to wake and be alert in the early morning.
Soda says, “Both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association recommend that middle and high school students start school no earlier than 8:30am because of the timing of student’s biological clock.”
How can you help your teen sleep better? Soda has these tips.
Make sure their schedule allows for sleep. Between, school, homework and activities, sleep is needed to accomplish both their physical and mental goals.
Make sure they are getting good quality sleep by limiting their caffeine intake later in the day, setting up their environment for sleep and limiting screen time before bed.
Lastly, if they are continuously struggling, it may be time to speak to a sleep specialist about their sleep hygiene and steps they can take to address their individual sleep challenges.
For more information go to startwithsleep.com
