Teens & Sleep: Why They Struggle & How You Can Help – Get Sleep Savvy

Teens Need More Sleep! Sleep expert and Better Sleep Council spokesperson Terry Cralle explains why teenagers have trouble falling asleep & how parents can help them get the rest they need for better health & well-being.

Transcript

Terry Cralle
Teenagers again have something biologically going on. It’s called phase delay, and they don’t get the melatonin production until late in the night, so they need to fall asleep and stay asleep. They really can’t control it to any degree. So what happens is they tend to go to bed late, and too many teens are trying to get through the day fueled with caffeine only, which is not a substitute for sleep.

So it’s real important that we as adults help protect the sleep of teenagers. So when we think about their well-being, their safety, their mental and physical health, and their quality of life, we must look at sleep.

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