Sound Sleep Guide

It has been believed for some time now that too little or poor quality sleep in teenagers leads to a drop in performance at school, but it was not until fairly recently that a formal research study confirmed that teens with poor sleeping habits do in fact suffer from lower grades.

Below are 10 simple tips to ensure that an otherwise healthy child does not suffer from sleeping problems and gets the quality of sleep needed to perform well in school.

1. Decide upon a regular time to go to bed and try not to vary this time by more than a matter of a few minutes from day to day.

2. Ensure that you get up at the same time in the morning, whether or not it is a school day. Teenagers commonly have a lie-in on weekends and during the school holidays and, rather than helping to make you feel better, this merely disrupts your pattern of sleep.

3. If you find that you cannot fall asleep within approximately 15 minutes of climbing into bed then do not simply lie in bed trying to get to sleep, because the more you try the more difficult it will get. Instead, climb back out of bed and do something like reading a book or listening to some relaxing music. Once you begin to feel tired, climb back into bed and you will be asleep in next to no time.

4. Do not be tempted to stay up late doing your homework or studying for a test. Although this could appear to be the answer to a specific problem in the short term, and may well keep you out of trouble for handing your homework in late or see you through a test, in the longer run your performance will drop and any shorter term gain will soon be lost.

5. Avoid the temptation to take a nap in the afternoon school. Should you find that you are so tired that you cannot keep your eyes open then take a nap but for no more than an hour.

6. Do not consume any form of drink which contains caffeine after about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. This of course applies to tea and coffee, but also includes colas and chocolate drinks.

7. Do not eat a heavy meal too close to bedtime. You certainly should not go to bed hungry and having a light snack prior to bedtime is fine, however climbing into bed on a full stomach will make it difficult for you to fall asleep and affect the quality of your sleep.

8. Although teenagers will sometimes spend a lot of time in their bedroom and turn it into more of a ‘living’ than a ’sleeping’ room, avoid the temptation to use the bed for anything other than sleeping. Do not sit in bed reading, writing, playing games, watching TV or anything else but keep it only for sleeping so that your body associates climbing into bed with going to sleep.

9. Avoid strenuous exercise within several hours of bedtime. If you wish to play baseball or engage in other sporting or vigorous activities then do these shortly after school and not an two or three hours before you go to bed.

10. When it comes to bedtime ensure that your bedroom is quiet, dark and cool. Do not shut your bedroom up, turn up the heat and get into bed to watch TV. Instead, lower the heat, open the window a bit if you can to allow in some fresh air and make the room as dark as possible.

If you follow these 10 tips you will find that within no time at all the quality of your sleep will improve, you will feel much more awake and active throughout the day and your grades will improve.