Help with almost 14yr old DS and sleep pattern

[AbundantLife]

My DS has always had a problem falling asleep and getting up on time in the morning. He has been tested for sleep disorders and nothing showed up there.

He says he just can't get to sleep. We have dabbled with the non-prescription sleep aids and melatonin. The last time we gave him melatonin, he got an awful headache so we're not going to use that anymore.

What non-prescription sleep remedies do you recommend and at what levels? He is 140 lbs.

The sleep issue is not so much of an issue now, during the summer, but he starts high school in a month and the bus comes at 6:45 a.m. :

[ThreeBeans]

There's nothing wrong with him. He's normal. The sleep cycle shifts during adolescense. Your average adolescent when left to his own devices will go to sleep after midnight and not wake up till 10 AM or so


I firmly believe that high schools are insane for starting as early as they do. It's been PROVEN that teenagers need to sleep longer hours in different patterns than children or adults. The hours of 7-10 are awful times to put an adolescent into classes.

[AbundantLife]

Thanks.

I know that teens do have that bio-rhythm, but I do have an older child and have been through the teen years before. This younger one has NEVER been one to fall asleep at a reasonable time even before he hit the teen years. When he was little, he was up at night, out of his bed, playing with his toys.

Not to sound ungrateful for your advice, but there is nothing I can do about the time that high school begins. DS's sleep problem seriously affects his abilities and it has for many, many years.

If he would fall asleep by, say, 11pm and get a good 6-7 hours, I would feel OK about it. I know my DS is up at 1 and 2 in the morning.

My oldest never had a problem falling asleep by 10pm and neither did my DH or me, at that age.

[ThreeBeans]

I'm sorry, I suppose I wasn't very helpful, was I?

I just didn't want you to think your kid was some kind of oddball

[Ann-Marita]

This probably doesn't really help, but...I seriously believe that some people are naturally more nocturnal than others. My father's side of the family are almost all like this.

I have trouble falling asleep sometimes. I find Benadryl to be effective. It's the same ingredient as some OTC sleep aids, often cheaper (buy the store brand), and you have more control over how much you take (one capsule or two).

But, if taken for too long, it is associated with increased incidents of sleepwalking (happened to me).

[fek&fuzz]

Does he exercise? If he's getting enough good hard physical exercise, outside preferably to take advantage of natural melatonin, that should help him feel sleepy at night. Also, maybe he could get a yoga video and do some calming yoga in the evening.

That said, my boyfriend's 14 year old daughter is here for the summer and it's a miracle if she awakes before noon, even if she is in bed by 11pm.

[ASusan]

I agree with the PP, in that this could be an adolescent development issue AND an individual-differences in sleep pattern issue.

The only suggestions I have are ones that you have already put into place:

No caffeine after 6pm (or 3pm, or none at all)

No screen-time after 6pm (TV/computer/video games) -- look into the admitedly minimal research on light exposure and melatonin regulation. This might be very hard with a teen, but I think it's worth looking into.

Bed for sleeping only. Reading, recreation, etc done elsewhere (hard with a teen, I know)

Moving bedtime earlier a little bit at a time, not all at once

Exercise before 6pm.

Warm shower before bed.


The school schedules for adolescents are awful. They don't correspond to the research at all.

[AbundantLife]

The other day he slept until 1:30pm..

He says he has a hard time falling asleep, so tonight we're going to try some valerian in capsule form. We tried the "kid's" liquid years ago, but he hated the taste.

I just want to regulate the sleep pattern a little bit. I know there is not much I can do about normal adolescent sleeping, but he needs to be able to get to sleep at least around midnight. Hopefully we can regulate it a little bit before school starts at the end of August.

[Sol_Solved]

I had a really hard time falling asleep as a teenager. Even now, if I'm the least bit stressed I know it'll entail an hour or two staring at the ceiling. And, when I was single I had a TV and computer in my room that made things even harder.

However, now I use a Body Scan meditation CD faithfully, and I am knocked out in three minutes flat. For me, I couldn't fall asleep because I was overtired and anxious, and it really helped. At first I just realized that whenever I took a yoga class I would have to fight not to fall asleep during shavasana, so I just tried the meditation tape at night too. This is the particular one I have, but any body scan or yoga nidra tape works great for me, far better than muscle relaxants and the like.

[nextcommercial]

My dd is exactly the same way. She just CAN'T fall asleep before midnight, and getting her up in the mornings is a nightmare. I hate it.

I have tried several sleep aids for her. I will watch this thread to see what if anything will help.

[jlutgendorf]

Honestly, that may just be his sleep pattern (not because he's a teen, but because that's just how he is). I'm the same way and my grandma and an uncle are the same as well. Even as a kid, I would take a flash light, book, radio, etc. to bed with me and stay up late as I just wasn't tired at my bed time.

Really the best thing that worked for me was college, I was so busy and so on the go all the time, that any moment to catch some sleep, and I was zonked. I'm out of school now and I just don't fall asleep before 1 or 2 am.

I was taking tylenol pm (sans tylenol) for awhile, but even one pill of that makes me groggy for 12 HOURS, and it just didn't seem natural. I've pretty much just accepted that I'm just like this and I use my weekends to catch up on missed sleep.

You might try asking him if he ever feels sleepy around 8-10 pm? I often do, but I struggle to stay awake as going to be at 8:30 seems crazy to me. But then once it's past 10, I'm ZING! wide awake until 2 am! I know if I actually went to bed when I was feeling sleepy in the early evening, I would get some more sleep. I might not sleep through the night, but I'd probably go back to sleep if I woke up at 3 or something (and I actually have a friend who does this, sleeps from 8 to 2, reads, putters, etc. from 2 to 4, goes and sleeps from 4 onward).

I have heard that Epsom Salt baths can help regulate sleep. i think i read about it in the health forum here.

Sorry I don't have any better advice. I'm hoping one day that I can freelance full time so my work schedule can be from 1-9 pm as that's when I'm most up and active. One day!

~Julia