The teenage years are a unique period of growth, filled with both rewarding moments and significant challenges for parents. During this time, adolescents often strive for independence and seek to make decisions about nearly every aspect of their lives.
As a parent, however, your priority is to guide them toward building habits that support a holistic and healthy lifestyle. While respecting their autonomy is important, there are times when stepping in becomes essential to assure their well-being. This is especially true when it comes to establishing good sleep routines.
A healthy lifestyle for teens includes eating foods, mental stimulation, physical activity, social relationships, and sleep. Before looking into how to help your teen sleep better, let’s first look at sleep disorders. This way, you can better spot them and differentiate whether your teen is suffering from a sleep disorder.
Sleep Disorders in Teens
If you ask many adults suffering from insomnia, sleep deprivation, or poor sleep habits where their issues began, they will often point to their teenage years. Poor sleep habits start during adolescence for many.
Signs of a sleep disorder include:
Consistent Daytime Fatigue
Teens who struggle to stay awake during the day may be experiencing disrupted rest. Persistent tiredness can signal underlying sleep issues, such as poor sleep quality or an undiagnosed condition.
Difficulty Falling Asleep or Staying Asleep
Struggling to fall asleep or waking frequently throughout the night are common symptoms of insomnia or anxiety-related sleep disruptions. This can leave teens feeling unrested, even after hours in bed.
Excessive Sleepiness
Teens who experience overwhelming sleepiness during the day may have conditions like hypersomnia or narcolepsy that require medical attention.
Breathing Issues During Sleep
Snoring, gasping, or pauses in breathing are signs of obstructive sleep apnea. Left untreated, this can lead to cardiovascular problems, poor concentration, and mood changes.
Parasomnia Symptoms
Sleepwalking, talking, or night terrors are parasomnia conditions that disrupt sleep patterns. These can result in poor rest and heightened stress for teens and their families.
Unexplained Behavioral or Academic Changes
A sudden decline in academic performance, increased irritability, or changes in social behavior can be linked to sleep disorders. Sleep deprivation impacts mood, focus, and decision-making.
Why Sleep is Important for Teens
The effects of quality sleep for teens extend beyond just feeling rested. Adequate sleep fuels physical health, emotional resilience, and cognitive abilities. All these factors are necessary for their growth and development.
Let’s break down the specific benefits:
Boosts Academic Performance
Sleep strengthens memory consolidation and enhances problem-solving skills. It can help teens retain what they learn during the day. Studies show that teens who get the recommended 8–10 hours of sleep perform better on tests and are more likely to stay focused in class. Well-rested teens also find it easier to manage time and complete assignments efficiently.
Supports Physical Health and Growth
During sleep, the body undergoes repair and regeneration. This is especially important for teens as growth hormones are released during deep sleep stages. These hormones support muscle development, bone growth, and overall physical maturation. These benefits alone make sleep a basis for healthy development.
Enhances Mental Health and Emotional Balance
Teens who get sufficient sleep can better manage stress, anxiety, and depression. Lack of sleep can lead to heightened emotional reactivity. This makes it harder to cope with challenges. Quality rest helps regulate mood to promote a more stable and positive outlook.
Improves Immune Function
Sleep plays a significant role in maintaining a healthy immune system. Teens who consistently get enough sleep are less likely to fall sick with colds, the flu, or other common illnesses. This means fewer absences from school and extracurricular activities. Being consistently healthy allows them to stay on track academically and socially.
Reduces Risk of Injury and Accidents
Fatigue from inadequate sleep can impair judgment and reaction times. This will increase the likelihood of accidents. Being well-rested for teens who are new drivers is key to staying alert. It is also important for those participating in sports to avoid injuries.
Encourages Healthy Social Relationships
Sleep-deprived teens are more prone to irritability, mood swings, and miscommunication. These interpersonal challenges can strain relationships with family, friends, and teachers.
Adequate sleep fosters patience, empathy, and better communication skills. It helps teens maintain healthy connections in their social circles.
Supports Hormonal and Metabolic Regulation
Sleep influences the regulation of hunger hormones like ghrelin and leptin. Sleep-deprived teens are more likely to crave unhealthy foods. This will lead to weight gain and potential long-term health issues. Quality sleep promotes a balanced metabolism and encourages healthier eating habits.
Promotes Long-Term Healthy Habits
Instilling good sleep habits during adolescence sets the stage for lifelong health. Teens who prioritize sleep are more likely to continue these habits into adulthood. Those who practice better sleep habits can reduce their risk of chronic health issues like heart disease, obesity, and mental health disorders.
Prioritizing quality sleep allows teens to gain a significant advantage in all aspects of life, from academics to relationships. Encouraging good sleep habits now builds the foundation for their future success and well-being.
Creating Good Sleep Habits
When it comes to teens, sleep is even more important than it is in adulthood. Fostering strong, healthy habits now helps encourage positive developmental stages throughout their life. This foundation sets your kids up for success as they transition into adulthood.
If you’re not sure just how much sleep your teen should be getting, our recent blog, “Are your children getting enough sleep?” will give you the guidelines for every age.
Working with your teen to create healthy sleep habits can mean experimenting with different strategies to see what works for them. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Create a Relaxing Sleep Routine
Create a “wind down” routine for your teen. The human body and mind thrive on routine and habits. Establishing a consistent routine that promotes relaxation helps your body unwind.
This signals your brain to prepare for rest – making it easier to fall and stay asleep. Building a sleep routine might include incorporating calming scents in your bedroom or home, using an essential oil diffuser or candle, or enjoying a nightly cup of herbal tea.
Are you getting good sleep and setting a good example for your teen with your nightly sleep routine?
Encourage Proper Body Temperature Regulation
Before bed, encourage your teen to take a hot bath or shower. This habit boosts sleepiness in the body naturally by making the room’s temperature seem cooler. Regulating body temperature can help signal to the body that it is time for sleep.
Dim the Lights in the Evening
Natural circadian rhythms are built into our DNA. Our ancestors woke with the sunrise, stayed active during the day, and rested after sunset. At night, artificial indoor lighting confuses the brain by mimicking daylight.
Dim the lights, turn off overhead fixtures, and use lamps or candles to create a calming atmosphere that helps teens ease into a natural state of sleepiness.
Make the bedroom utterly dark with effective window shades or a sleep mask if complete darkness isn’t possible. Dimming the lights throughout your home in the evening can further support healthy sleep patterns.
Address Underlying Issues
If your teen is experiencing issues falling asleep, staying asleep, or simply establishing a nightly bedtime routine, it’s time to start getting curious! Getting to the root of the sleep problem can be the most effective tactic for maintaining sustainable sleep habits.
Some causes for difficulty sleeping can include certain medications, caffeinated substances late in the day or at night, stress, a lack of physical activity throughout the day, anxiety, depression, and social pressures at school. Your teen may not even realize what’s preventing them from getting good sleep.
For this reason, get curious and ask lots of open-ended questions. Encourage your teen to connect the dots between their choices and how rested and energetic they are…or not!
Design a Sleep-Friendly Environment
Focus on a few key areas in the bedroom and home, and you and your teen will see a noticeable improvement in sleep quality. Start by turning the bedroom into a clean, clutter-free zen zone that promotes relaxation. Check out 8 Tips for a Dust-free Bedroom for more ideas—better breathing leads to better sleep!
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again—consider removing electronics from the bedroom. At a minimum, agree with your teen on a set time each night when all devices are turned off or switched to airplane mode. Encourage reading, especially fiction, as a relaxing alternative to watching TV or scrolling on their phone to help them wind down.
Walk through every room in your house around 8 pm or 9 pm this evening. Are the rooms lit bright as day or dimmed for bedtime readiness?
Quality Mattress for Holistic Sleep
SAMINA Sleep has world-class sleep products and accessories that will help you create a healthy, quality sleep routine for your teen under any conditions. Our luxury mattresses and holistic sleep systems offer a sleep solution you can count on for natural sleep for your teen every night. SAMINA Sleep encourages body temperature regulation, relaxation, and comfort by using organic, all-natural materials.
Visit our website here for more information about the SAMINA sleep system. To request more information on the SAMINA sleep system, click here.