Do you wake sleeping teens or leave them be?

[ChandlerIsTheBestFriend]

Should they be up because it’s day time and everyone else is up or should they be left to suit themselves as there is literally nothing for them to do, nowhere for them to go and no-one to see?

YANBU= wake them
YABU= leave them be

Usually I'm one for making sure everyone is where they should be at the right time, fed and watered and l make sure things to run smoothly. Works great, everyone is happy. But now I'm just letting everyone just go with the flow. They get up when they want. Was torture at first but after the first week I just thought f**k it. My dd is 13(14 on Sunday) and my ds is 17. They now appear when they want, usually when they need feeding. I find this works really well as there has been no bickering and everyone is getting on great. I say let them sleep, no point waking a teen if you don't need to.

I wake my 19 year old with a cup of tea and a biscuit at 10am. He doesn’t have to get up, but as a family we have lunch and supper together, so he kind of fits in with the routine and normally rolls out of bed within half an hour. I don’t dictate bedtimes - that’s down to him.

My teenager 13 surfaces to eat then it's like a plague of locusts .But i am pretty chilled they are at home with DH while i am at work .

This will probably be the only chance they have (bar uni) to slow down, sleep in, stay up late and generally have a bit of autonomy over a part of their lives. Part of being young is being able to "waste the day" if they want to.

Leave them. I don't understand why anyone would wake anyone up if there's no need for it eg school or work. I'd be cross if someone woke me up just because of the time.

I used to sleep in all the time as a teenager and my body clock has naturally got earlier into my late 20s and 30s. I see nothing wrong with sleeping as much as you need to, particularly during a lockdown

DS is 16. Has gone nocturnal. I wake him around 1pm. Not sure when he goes to sleep - probably around 4-5am

DD is 14. She’s waking somewhere between 8 and 10. She keeps more standard sleeping hours.

At the moment I really can’t be bothered to try and change things. I will do at some point.

I hope 17yo DS doesn't read this thread, I wake him up at 10 every morning to empty the dishwasher 😆

My teens are nocturnal too. I've decided not to worry. Their exams have been cancelled and the world is very strange.
They need to join us to help cook and eat dinner then watch a movie or play game. The rest of the day / night is their own.
But I will be expecting some revision / prep for next year once 'school' goes back, even though there'll be no actual teaching happening.

Up at 8, in bed with phone til more or less lunchtime. It's grim but he seems to like it.

As a parent of 2 little boys below 7 I can say hand on heart I'd let them sleep in! My mum was always of the mindset that they're teenagers, they need more sleep and I completely agree. Enjoy the peace!

I hate being woken up if I don't need to get up. Why would I wake my teenager up, especially in the Easter holidays.

Unfortunately I have to set my alarm tomorrow to WFH but not going to make everyone get up.

My 5 yo DD didn’t wake up until 1150 this morning! I’d been up since half 6. I enjoyed the peace tbh, but she’s going to be a nightmare whenever we need to get back into a routine

Ruthless here. 10 is pretty much the limit.

Who are these experts that keep spouting that staying up all night and sleeping all day is bad for your mental health
Not mental health practitioners I suspect. Away you go and read up on teenage brains.
Let them sleep.

It can be a sign of poor mental health in adults. Teenagers are not adults.

Teenagers need more sleep. I leave them

We are all setting our own hours at the moment. Is bliss.

Also spreads out the 'togetherness'. School holidays here so no need to get them up/worry about bedtime.

We are all having a meal together at around 5:30pm. Whether that is brunch/lunch/dinner doesn't matter.

We are all going for a run for an uour everyday as well (though not necessarily together).

This works for us. I am getting 10 hours a night sleep myself. Never felt so good.

DH started yelling up the stairs for teen DD the other day at 10am. I said she's probably still asleep. DH was appalled but I pointed out what's she got to get up for, or be late for if she gets up later....?

I did quite a lot of research into sleep for my degree. Teenagers should get 10 hours a night to many less or more can be linked to poor health outcomes. More is linked to hypertension, diabetes, depression. Also long term lack of sunlight and being awake all night had other health issues. Too little can affect growth. Extremes are never thay good.

Teenagers need a lot of sleep and their body clocks have shifted so they become night owls. It's incredibly important for health that people both get the sleep they heed and at the right time. So I you don't want to cause your child harm to their health, leave them to sleep!

Read "Why we sleep" if you want more information about this. Fascinating book.

I'm treating mine pretty much like another dog at the moment to be fair, sleeps when he can, feed him and let him run about the back garden (it's a read size with goal posts). He has learning difficulties and I've enough battles to fight at the moment.

17yo DD gets up around 11am these days. She told me yesterday that she can't wait until she has to get up at 6am for school again 😁

My body clock has changed too. I'm sleeping 2am - 10am at the minute. But then I always preferred night shifts, I never get why early risers think it's better to be up and doing. I'm not productive at 6am, on the other hand I'm often found baking or cleaning at 11pm

18yo is up before 10am every day.

17yo gets woken if not awake by noon. It took years to get him into a rough sleep routine. We don't risk losing it. He doesn't stay out of bed later than 12/1 (when I go to bed) although he obviously has his phone he isn't allowed on the PC or Xbox in the night. If I let his routine go he would really struggle.