Posted by RMD's Mom on July 24, 2007 at 12:35:08:Here is the abbreviated version of my story!
My son (who just turned 16) is an otherwise strong, healthy boy. He is about 5' 7" 190 lbs, plays lots of hockey and works out regularly.
As an infant and toddler it was rather difficult to get him to sleep. We had to spend a lot of time patting his back, and had to more or less sneak out of the room. Once asleep he slept quite well. As a young child, things got a bit easier for us. Since he has always been very active, he was usually good and tired at the end of the day. As long as we had our story time, he drifted off quite easily.The last year or so has been the most difficult time of all. It seems that everytime he is allowed to stay up late (he is 16 after all!), he has a terrible problem getting up the next morning. Then of course, the next night, he can't get to sleep because he only got up a few hours ago.
My observation has been that in order to fall asleep relatively easily, he has to have been up for at least 14 hours, and preferably actively involved in sports for some of that time.
I know that teenagers need lots of sleep (9-10 hours I have heard) and that it is best to try to establish a stable sleep pattern, but because of sports, he is regularly up until almost 01:00 on a school night.
What we need are tips to help him fall asleep as quickly as possible so that his sleep cycle does not get completely out of whack.
We are currently awaiting a consultation with a sleep specialist but that does not take place for another 1.5 months. Any help that anyone can provide (that is suited to teenagers!) would be greatly appreciated.Signed,
An Exhausted Mom
- Re: 16 Year Old Male with Insomnia Janet 20:42 7/24/07 (0)