how do you get a teenage boy out of bed in the morning???

Question

My Son is about to hit 13 but is well and truely into puberty!! He has always been a heavy sleeper which might have been cute when he was a tot but now he's a teen its a nightmare getting him up for school. I've tried everything I can think of but chucking water over him or physically pulling him down from a top bunk.
He gets no pocket money that his brother does, he gets detentions from school for being late, I pinch his quilt and take it down stairs, what else is there i can do. He's lucky I don't have to go out to work early and leave him to get himself up or he'd never get to school. Please help.

Answer 1

Set an alarm to go off at the other side of the room so that he has to get out of bed to turn it off. Also, why not throw water over him, he'd definately move.

Answer 2

There are two possible issues here. Does he have trouble waking up (coming fully awake)? Or does he not want to go to school? If he doesn't want to go to school, sleeping in is just an excuse. That's a much more complex issue, and one I won't go into here.

If he has trouble waking up, that's pretty normal for kids that age. Try waking him up gradually. Say you want him out of bed by 6:30. Start by lightening the room around 6:00. In the winter it's usually still dark when I get up so I'm much more likely to oversleep. You can lighten the room by getting a small lamp and putting it on a timer so it comes on at the same time everyday. Once it's set you don't even have to worry about it. Next, set an radio alarm to go off at about 6:15. By this time he's started to drift up from the deep sleep, and the sound will drag him up further. Don't turn it on super loud. This isn't mean to wake him, just help him gradually become conscious. Set the radio to a talk station or up tempo music. I have an iPod with an alarm clock dock, and I have a playlist that has soothing music for the first hour, and up tempo stuff for the second hour. I go to sleep to the first half, setting it to turn off after an hour. When it hits the alarm, the faster music comes on. Finally, get a super-industrial strength alarm clock made for people who are hearing impaired, and set it for 6:30. I inherited one from my grandfather, and it's unbelievable. I have it set at half volume and it could still wake the neighbors. It also has an outlet in the back to plug in a lamp. When the alarm goes off, so does the lamp, beeping and flashing in my face. I tried using this alarm alone for a while, but it would startle me out of a deep sleep and it was very uncomfortable. Now that I have the light, then the music, then the alarm, it's much easier to get up. Just be sure to put it where he can't reach the snooze (or find one without a snooze).

Answer 3

I am an 18 year old female and my mom hasn't came in my room for years. I have to rely on myself to get up. It kind of sucks but I've been waking up to an alarm clock for the past however many years. Make him have an alarm clock in the room. I usually set the clock 15 early so I can hit the snooze button twice. And then I pull myself out of bed. If this doesn't work, ground him. Take whatever he does after school away from him until he has some responsibilty now. If he doesn't learn it now, he won't learn it. (That what my mom always told me and it's true!) Good Luck!

Answer 4

hey mother, i have a sister who has the same problem, find out if he has a real problem with late sleeping. does he sleep in aseperate room, does he game till late in the night, does he watch heavy TV over nights, do you see that he sleeps pretty early. try to make him sleep sonner by putting him into a karate, tennis, swimming class or yoga and meditation.
meditation will help him really good, since it reduces time span for sleeping.
and never bring in him a complex of not getting pocket money okie.
i know teens are stubborn.
check if he had broken up with girl friend, or had a fight with friends, or has someother physical issues that makes him a heavy sleeper.
until we are young we have no responisibiliites to take care of so we can sleep
but once we become a teenager execcisve sleeping should be closely monitored.
do keep watch of what he is upto, he might even pretend sleeping in the night.

Answer 5

Call his school and excuse him for a week. Arrange for his studies to be sent home each day. Let him sleep in and then make him stay in his room and sleep. At the end of the afternoon he will have his studies delivered and he can stay in his room and finish them. That should take the entire day. Once he has done this for about 3 or 4 days, I am sure he will be ready to get up and get out.

Is he suffering from depression? Is there a problem at school that he hasn't revealed? A bigger boy threatening him? Maybe he is not doing well in a class and he hates to go because he is falling behind? Maybe there is a hidden problem you haven't found.

Possibly you and he can purchase a VERY LOUD alarm clock and he will be responsible for setting it each night and getting himself up.

I found this informationand there is more after putting , "can't wake up child" on the google search page.

Based on the above, the possibilities are the following:
1. Obstructive sleep apnea: It is the most common sleep syndrome. It occurs typically in patients who are overweight (but may occur in patients who are not obese). It consists of multiple arousals during the night, some of them are not remembered by the patient (called micro arousals), snoring, episodes of breathing arrest, morning headaches, and inability to remain awake during the day.
2. Upper airway resistance syndrome: The symptoms are almost the same as the first one but they are typically milder and associated with different findings on the sleep test (polysomnogram).
3. Sleep wake cycle problems: This could be due to lack of good sleep hygiene, i.e the patient does not always follow the same sleep habits.
4. The remote possibility of brain tumor can not be excluded based on the minimal information you gave, although it is doubtful

My recommendations are the following:
1. Consultation with a Neurologist who deals on a routine basis with sleep disorders. If you would like an appointment can be arranged for you to be seen by one of our Sleep Disorders specialists (you may call 1-800 CCF CARE or 216-444-5559)
2. A sleep study called Polysomnogram (PSG) and blood tests may be needed.
3. Based on the Neurological examination, an MRI of the brain may be needed
4. After the above tests are done, the appropriate treatment will be recommended.

Good luck

Answer 6

First, make sure he's going to bed early enough. For some reason parents believe that a kid that's 13 gets to set his own hours. Not true, for when they do.... well they like to stay up late and sleep all day.



And for the method that works. One is of course ice water in the face. Best to ask him to get up a few times before you hit him with the water, but just like Pavlov's Dog, you can condition your son to wake to the sound of your voice, and eliminate the pain of ice water in one of those pubescent dreams....

Another method is the old "army" method. Two metal trash can lids, and a lot of yelling.

Make sure which ever method you use that he does not just roll over and say he's awake. He's awake, when he's out of the bed and on the way to the shower.

Answer 7

Buy him a good loud alarm clock, set it across the room from his bed. When it rings enter his room and turn on the lights. (Make sure your have BRIGHT LIGHTS. Open the shades. Throw the cat or dog on his bed and leave. Make sure there are consequences for being late, such as being grounded or taking out things from his room that keep him up at night. A great way is to take his computer out of his room, put it in your bedroom until he shows he is responsible. Most likely he cant get up because he is up late. Turning off the power to his room at the circuit may work (Sitting in the dark is boring).

Answer 8

If it's a real physical problem then I would talk to your physician and find out what you can do. Sometimes there are medical sleep disorders that can surface pretty early on. but if it's just your son being difficult and dragging his feet I'd threaten an earlier bed time so he can get an earlier start. Personally I've always like ice cubes instead of buckets of water lol!

Answer 9

My hubby and I have moved my 13 yo daughters bedtime 30 minutes early cause she won't wake up. She asked me the other day when she can start staying up later because she has learned her lesson. I told her "during the Holiday break from school, but when school starts up again if we have problems your bedtime is moving down an HOUR." She does not like that idea because then she has to go to bed when our youngest do instead of when her big brother does.

Answer 10

I have to agree with vixen my son is 15 and my daughter is 14 and believe me i used to have that problem a whole bucket of water i throw over my daughter my son heard what happened the screams would have woke the dead
never had the problem again on a school day
good luck
respect
shaz