How to get teenagers more sleep

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – It’s Parenting Connection Tuesday and 6 News is here for you with tips, strategies, and helpful reminders from local child development experts on how we can be better parents and guardians.

Today’s topic: How to get teenagers more sleep.

It’s Sleep Awareness Week — and doctors say, teenagers are in need of more sleep than any other age group, mostly due to puberty. During this stage, sleep not only helps a teenager physically, but mentally as well, because the brain is still changing.

Growth experts say teenagers need between 8-10 hours of sleep a night. However, due to various reasons, many studies show about 70% of teenagers get less than eight hours of sleep, and between 30% to 40% of teenagers get as little as six hours of sleep per night.

Here are the top four reasons why teens aren’t getting enough sleep:

*Technology use at night

*Homework

*Over-scheduling

*Early school start times

Doctors say lack of sleep increases the risk of cardiovascular dysfunction, obesity, depression, and violence. When teenagers are sleep-deprived, they’re not as good at problem-solving, handling difficult situations, and underperform in school.

Here at 6 ways to help teenagers get better sleep:

*Ban electronics from the bedroom

*Avoid drinking caffeinated beverages in the afternoon and evening

*Discourage afternoon naps

*Enforce a regular sleep schedule

*Finish homework sooner rather than later

*Try melatonin

Research shows that teenagers with inadequate sleep can have long-lasting health effects, so doctors say to use Sleep Awareness Week as a way to fix some bad sleeping habits before it’s too late.

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