For teens, sleep hygiene should include more than just brushing before bedtime. Too many teens practice bad habits that keep them from getting the eight to 10 hours of sleep recommended by the National Sleep Foundation.
A recent study from Columbia University, which included responses from more than 270,000 teens in the 8th, 10th and 12th grades over 20 years, found that female students, racial and ethnic minorities, and students of lower socioeconomic status are less likely to get at least seven hours of sleep a night than their counterparts in other groups. And, no matter what their background, teens are getting less sleep than they did two decades ago on average, with just 63 percent of 15-year-olds logging at least seven hours of sleep a night compared with 72 percent of those surveyed in 1991.
Smart phones, school start times, and sports practices are just a few factors contributing to this trend, says Dena Robertson, nursing supervisor for the Sleep Medicine and Research Center at St. Luke's Hospital, where experts start by cleaning up sleep practices for adolescent patients and also offer training in cognitive behavior therapy and relaxation techniques to teens with more serious sleep problems.
Good sleep hygiene habits include no caffeine after 4 p.m., no naps, and avoiding exercise, if possible, within three hours of teens’ anticipated bedtime. It also means no sleeping until noon on Saturday and Sunday, says Robertson, who advises teens not to wake up or go to bed too much later than they would on a school day.
“We tell them that their bedtime/wake time should not vary by more than one hour, seven days a week,” she says.
At least an hour before bed, teens should also wrap up homework, shut off smartphones, and avoid anything that’s going to stimulate them too much.
“They need to have a one-hour wind-down time before their anticipated bedtime so they have time for their brains to shut down,” she explains.
Robertson recommends reading or listening to music somewhere other than the bedroom and not even looking at the clock once teens are tucked in. And if adolescents toss and turn for more than about 20 minutes, they should get out of bed and try to do something relaxing rather than lying there.
“We’re trying to teach the brain that the bedroom is for sleeping,” she says. “So you want to have the wind-down time outside the bedroom and then, once you get into bed, it’s lights out.”
Charlene Oldham is a writer and teacher who lives in Crestwood.
