I'm begging for advice.?

Question

Hello,
I am a 16 year old teenager who has a very hard time staying up. My mother walks in and tells me to wake up, but i find my self drifting back to sleep. I am always late for 1st hour, which is English, because I snooze and dont leave to make it on time. Currently i have 4 alarm clocks set, and i unconciously hit all 4 of them to turn them off. I am begging for a way to Stay up and not drift back to sleep...please help. Im at 7 out of 10 absences already and the year just started. if i get 3 more i will fail. Please respond with useful tips.
-Justin (11th Grade)

Answer 1

First of all, this is perfectly normal for a person your age to sleep alot. Studies show teenagers need 9.25 hours of sleep each night for optimal daytime alertness, at least as much sleep as younger children require. Most teenagers, however, get only about 7 hours of sleep on school nights.

My suggestion is to try to go to bed 1/2 hour earlier, stop the soda/caffeine by 6:00pm, and move the alarm clocks to the other side of your room - this way you will have to get up, walk across the room to turn them off. Since you are up, might as well stay up - right? (Also, if you fall asleep to the radio or tv turn it off. Hearing music/talking while going to sleep could confuse your brain to thinking that what it hears in the morning is the same thing you heard last night.)

If you have difficulty falling asleep at night, try a warm shower before bed - it has always worked for me.

***

It is amazing how many people are jumping to a "medical problem". READ people, do some research. Teenagers often sleep much more than adults, and teen boys need much more sleep than many people think.

Sleep apnea, while a common problem, isn't always the case. Neither is narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by overwhelming daytime drowsiness and sudden attacks of sleep. Has nothing to do with waking up. Depression? GIVE ME A BREAK! Nothing like trying to use drugs to solve a problem that will solve itself in a few months.

Answer 2

Teenagers need about 9 hours of sleep per night. Teens have trouble getting enough sleep not only because of their busy schedules, but also because they are biologically programmed to want to stay up later and sleep later in the morning, which usually doesn't’t mesh with school schedules.
That being said, you might try to limit your caffeine intake in the evening, and going to bed a little earlier than you currently are.
I had a problem getting up early when I was a teenager too. I found that if I placed my alarm on the other side of the room, so I had to get out of bed to turn it off, I usually stayed up. Also, set your alarm to the buzzer sound, it is easier to sleep through music. The more obnoxious the alarm the better. (I actually bought an alarm clock that crowed like a rooster, it was the most annoying, foul sound to wake up to; but it did the trick!)
Try not to fall asleep to your music or T.V. You will be less likely to wake up to an alarm if you are used to sleeping with noise.
Also, make sure your curtains let in the morning light. It is harder to sleep in a bright room. If you already have heavy curtains, pull them back before you get into bed at night. The sunlight will help you wake up naturally.

Good luck!

Answer 3

You really need to get yourself on a schedule. I'm 24 and still setting two alarm clocks just to make sure I wake up!

Make sure you get at least 8 hours of sleep per night (budget your time so that you get all your homework done, and still have some time to go online/hang out with friends, whatever). Also, make sure you are eating right and drinking a lot of water (hydration is key!). You may also want to consider some type of excercise routine if you don't already have one. I find that working out/running/walking etc. really gets you ready to sleep at night and you sleep better!

Another reason for possibly not getting enough sleep is your room. Is it quiet? Is it dark? Are there a lot of people in your house that make a lot of noise late into the night? These are all things to consider in order for you to get a good night’s sleep.

If you ARE getting the sleep you need, you may want to consider talking to your doctor about your concerns. There may possibly be an underlying medical condition, or you may simply need to adjust your lifestyle a little bit. Your doctor will be able to help you sort everything out.

Good luck! Hope this helps!

Answer 4

Please don't give him any pain medicine from the drugstore or your mothers medicine cabinet! Some pain medicines can worsen the problem. If the nail is purple, there is likely some bleeding underneath or inside it. If the toe is swollen and he won't walk on it, he could have broken the toe. The best thing to do for tonight is bring him inside and give him a soft bed/blanket to lie on. If you can do it without moving the toe too much, you could try cold packing it or soaking it in some epsom salts with room temperature water (not hot, not cold) for 10 minutes. To cold pack it, put ice in a ziplock baggie and cover it with a thin dish towel then hold that to the affected area for 20 minutes 3 times a day. If he is still that swollen and painful tomorrow, take him to the vet, ok? The vet can feel the toe or maybe x ray it and see if it needs a splint or bandaging, and the vet can prescribe pain meds that will work well without the dreadful side effects of over the counter meds. Good luck.

Answer 5

Hey Justin, sounds like you are really having a hard time. It is part of being a teenager. Studies show that teens do better if school starts later in the day. That it's better for them to sleep in. Some schools even are changing their starting times, but the majority are not. It's a shame when we know there is a physiological reason for them to need this sleep.

Have you tried putting the alarms across the room to where you have to physically get up and turn them off. Have you tried drinking caffiene when your Mom comes in? I bring in coffee to my 17 year old in the morning. Then check him again in 15 minutes. We start by waking him up 15 minutes prior to when he needs to be up in order to get to school on time.

Make sure you are getting to bed at a decent time in the evening. Make sure before you go to bed in the evening you lay out all your clothes, your books are packed, etc.

Answer 6

My brother is the exact same way, and has been since his teenage years. The only thing I can think of is to set your alarm across your room. Better yet, set all them to go off at the same time on the other side of the room, that way you have to actually get out of bed and turn them off. Maybe that can wake you up enough to not drift off again.

Answer 7

You need to force yourself to get out of bed and get moving before you drift off. Go brush you teeth as soon as the alarm goes off. Don't allow yourself to lay there. Go to bed earlier - you may be in a time where your body needs more sleep. You may also be sleep hypoxemic - not getting enough oxygen in your sleep. This can be caused by a shock injury or head injury from birth forward. A doc can have sleep oxymetry testing done to make sure your oxygen levels are normal during sleep.

Answer 8

I have heard of teenagers having a different sleep schedule. If you are up late, then burning the candle at both ends won't work. You may want to check out sleep disorders. I have sleep apnea. For months, I thought I was keeping a night's sleep when I was really waking up several times an hour. A doctor can recommend you to a sleep clinic.

Answer 9

You need to find a way to get motivated!! Try just thinking in the morning when your alarms go off that you need to get up and get to school before you fail!! Try setting the alarm clocks on the other side of the room so you have to get up to shut them off and then stay away from your bed. Have your clothes set out the night before so you don't have to worry about that and get dressed. Don't go to bed late either that might help out too! Good Luck!!

Answer 10

oh god, i had the same exact problem. tell you what i did, moved out so my mom would stop waking me up, and quit school. now im in college with a very well paying part time job, and im working on starting my own business.
so yeah, i know that thats bad advice according to the rest of the world, but just telling you what i did.
lots of luck.
get a rooster if all else fails. hey - maybe you have mono. you should see a doctor

but y'know, if its such a serious problem, and its so hard to fix, me thinks that there are some underlying issues going on over her. dont let people tell you your lazy, your not - you sound like your trying. reach out to other people for help. oh, and dont rule out depression

also, some people, very few, just have a different sleeping pattern than others. you may just be a night person, and your schedule is working against you