How biology is responsible for the ways teens sleep
They go to bed late, then drag themselves out of bed. Teen sleep patterns cause a lot of friction in many homes. What may surprise you is that there are biological reasons for these sleep habits which teens can’t control.
As our eyes register the onset of darkness, melatonin is produced by a pea-sized structure at the centre of the brain. This hormone helps trigger sleepiness. Research shows that in teens, the production of melatonin doesn’t usually begin until one or two hours later than it does for younger or older people. This explains the difficulty they have going to bed at a time that would ensure sufficient sleep. Most parents would like their teens to be in bed by 10 pm to get the nine hours of sleep they require. But, because of the melatonin delay in the teenage brain, they aren’t sleepy at this time and they fight going to bed.
Since teens stay up later than they should, waking up becomes difficult. Teens are rarely able to get up when first called. It usually takes them three or four tries to get out of bed. Most parents know the frustration of calling their teen for the third time only to be met with a muffled “humph, just a few more minutes!” The usual response is, “If you’d just go to bed earlier, you could get up easier!” While this may be true, it’s not possible for most teens.
A worrisome result of these sleep patterns is sleep deprivation. Teens rarely get the nine hours of sleep per night they need, so they head into the weekend sleep deprived. This causes them to sleep until at least noon, which not only makes parents think they’re lazy, it also tells the brain that nighttime lasts until noon and further throws off the sleeping cycle.
The ritual morning tug-of-war can be made easier by realizing that you can’t fight Mother Nature. Here are some additional tips that may also help to ’turn down the heat’:
- Remember, teens aren’t doing this deliberately.
- Start wake-up calls early.
- Try to keep a regular schedule, even on weekends.
- Avoid bright lights close to bedtime – that includes TV and computer screens.
- Encourage teens to sleep a little later on weekends but make up most of their sleep by napping.
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