New Jersey Neuroscience Institute
Pediatric Sleep Disorder Center:
10 Tips To Help Your Adolescent Get More Sleep
EDISON , NJ — Recently, research has suggested that middle and high school age students work better on a class schedule suited to their unique sleep needs. Some schools have already implemented later start times. But even if your school doesn’t change its schedule, there are a few things you can do to help your child get more sleep.
Dr. Okey Anene, Director of the Children’s Neurological Center at the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute in Edison offers a few tips for helping your child or teenager sleep better:
- Have a regular bedtime. Regularity and consistency signal to a body that it's time to sleep. Consistent wake times also help establish sleep patterns. Maintain your sleep schedule even on weekends. When a sleep schedule must be altered, don't go to sleep more than an hour later or wake up more than 2 to 3 hours later than normal.
- Exercise. Regular and consistent exercise, 5 or 6 hours before bedtime (in late afternoon) may actually help you sleep better, but avoid exercise right before bed as it can raise your body temperature and make you more alert.
- Avoid stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine.
- Relax your mind. Avoid violent, scary, or action movies, television shows, and even books right before bed as they can set your mind and heart racing.
- Relax your body with meditation or soothing music.
- Keep the lights low. Light signals the brain that it's time to wake up. Stay away from bright lights (even, believe it or not, computer screens).
- Limit your naps. Naps of more than 30 minutes during the day can disrupt your ability to fall asleep when it’s time for bed.
- Avoid all-nighters. Cutting back on sleep the night before a test may make you perform worse than if you studied less but got more sleep.
- The right sleeping environment. People sleep best in a dark, quiet, cool room.
- Wake up with bright light. Bright light in the morning signals to your body that it's time to get going, so open those shades will jumpstart your day!
Says Anene, “The right amount of sleep is essential for anyone who wants to do well in school. When a child gets a good night’s sleep, he awakes rested and ready for the day. But a lack of sleep can steal the potential from the day and from the child.”
If your teenager has difficulty waking up in the morning, is unable to maintain concentration, falls asleep during classes, or is excessively moody or depressed, there may be a bigger problem than sleep behavior. Says Dr. Anene, “If a child is habitually tired and yet his environment and schedule allow for sufficient sleep, a sleep disorder could be disrupting a sound sleep.”
Sleep disorders in children can present themselves in a number of ways. The following may indicate a sleep disorder in a child:
- Bedtime resistance
- Irritability
- Snoring
- Noisy or troubled breathing
- Breathing through ones mouth
- Difficulty in falling or staying asleep
- Night terrors
- Bed-wetting
- Excessive sleepiness
- Hyperactivity
- Sleepwalking
- Difficulty in school
“Sleep disorders impact one's ability to function during awake times, as well has impact long-term health and wellness,” says Anene. In children, they can impde self esteem. They can also result from or lead to learning difficulties which have long-term impact on their quality of life. “Early and accurate diagnosis, preventative measures, and treatment are essential to managing sleep disorders. When a sleep disorder is diagnosed and treated early, the impact is minimized.”
At the Pediatric Sleep Disorder Center at NJNI, children are evaluated to determine the best course of treatment for the disorder. The Pediatric Sleep Center at NJNI is a multi-disciplinary sleep disorder center dedicated to children and young adults. The Center offers evaluation and management of a full range of sleep concerns, from the most common disorders to the most rare. Founded in 1999 and led by renowned sleep specialist Arthur S. Walters, MD and Sudhansu Chokroverty, MD, the facility offers state-of-the-art care in a conducive setting. The staff at the Center includes board certified physicians in sleep medicine, board certified pediatric neurologists, nurse clinicians, registered polysomnographic technologists, psychologists, and social workers. Pediatric pulmonologists, pediatric cardiologists, pediatric critical care physicians, pediatric general surgeons, and ear, nose and throat surgeons are readily available as consultants.
The New Jersey Neuroscience Institute at JFK Medical Center is a comprehensive facility designed exclusively for the diagnosis, treatment, and research of complex neurological and neurosurgical disorders in adults and children. Services offered at the Institute include programs in minimally-invasive and reconstructive spine surgery, peripheral nerve surgery, brain tumors, dizziness and balance disorders, epilepsy, sleep, memory problems/dementia, cerebral palsy, stroke, and spasticity and movement disorders. As a department of Seton Hall University's School of Graduate Medical Education, NJNI serves as the clinical setting for SHU's residency training in neurology. For more information on the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute, call 732-321-7950 or visit the facility online at www.njneuro.org.