Is My Teen Sleeping Too Much?

By Randi Morse

It's amazing how many things you forget once you are an adult. For example, I did not remember sleeping, or feeling tired, all the time when I was a teenager. My two teenage children, however, can sleep quite a bit. At first I thought this was an anomaly, then my son's friend moved in with us and he sleeps just as long as they do, reminding me that teenagers generally tend to sleep more than adults do. But is it healthy for your child to be sleeping so much? When should you get involved?

Sleep for Teens

Trying to determine how much sleep a person needs can be difficult. The amount of sleep you need changes as you age, for example toddlers need a lot more sleep than preteens do. And teenagers need a lot more sleep than adults. Then there is also the individual metabolism and sleep cycles of a person. Some people can function beautifully on under four hours of sleep a night, others need 9-10 hours a night in order to feel like they can make it through the day. When it comes to the amount of sleep a teenager should have, most pediatricians agree that teenagers need anywhere from 8-10 hours of sleep a night. 

A teenager's brain is much more like a toddler's, learning and growing and changing rapidly. A teenager's brain, and a toddler's brain, are both learning vast amounts of information and are dealing with a lot of bodily changes. This is one reason why they need more sleep than most adults.

Body Clock Changes

Another reason why your teenager may need more sleep is due to messing up their body clock. We all have one, an internal timer that gives us an idea of when we should sleep and when we should wake. It's why you just can't sleep in on a Saturday morning no matter how much you want to, because your body has become accustomed to waking up for work. Teenagers often fall into the trap of staying up late in order to hang with their friends and sleeping in. This becomes a habit, one that is very difficult to break. having a delayed sleep cycle is so normal for teenagers that there are even some high schools that are contemplating starting classes later in the morning in order to accommodate teenagers' weird sleep schedules. 

To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in  McKinney, Tex.