How many hours do your 13 year olds sleep?

[indy69]

Hello all,

I have a soon to be 13 year old in year 8. I am worried that she does not get enough sleep as school starts at 7.30 am. She has quite a lot of homework as well as activities during the week as well as leadership roles in school. She goes to bed at 9.30pm and wakes up around 6.30 am. Is that enough sleep as she says that she is always sleepy at school? Thanks in advance for your advice.

My son is closer to 14 but sleeps about the same as your dd.

Sounds about right for when mine were 13 (now 15 and 16). But every child is different - mine will take themselves off to bed when they are tired, any time between 9 and 11.

Would get rid of the idea of a "bed-time" and go more for how she feels. If she says she felt tired at school that day, would encourage her to go up with a book at 9, or to start getting ready for bed a bit earlier.

DD2 is 13. Goes up to bed at 10.15 and usually asleep at 11.00. I wake her up at 7.00.
She is not tired at school and does well.
Some kids need more sleep than others.

That's about 90mins less than my 13yo seems to need.

If she's sleepy at school then get her to bed earlier and see if that helps.

DC are 12 and 15. They need to be up for school at 6:00 (long commute) and they go to bed at 9:00. They both need this amount of sleep and any less and they are really tired the next day though their commute probably makes it a bit worse than it would be otherwise.

My DD goes to bed at 9.30 but takes so long it's nearer 10.00 then probably another 30 mins before sleep so probably 10.30 - 7.00pm
BUT she isn't allowed her phone in her room overnight so I know she is trying to sleep..
Could your DD be on her phone during the night so getting less sleep than you think? or a sneaky book reader with a torch? :-)

Its more than my DC, always up a lot later studying. Catches up on sleep at weekend.

Perhaps she is too tired because she has too much going on; can she cut down a little bit? No point on stressing/tiring your kids so early in life

School starts at 7am?????????!!!!!!!!

Wow, that's early.

Except for the two evenings a week when he has drama rehearsals Ds (aged is in bed by 9.30pm & gets up at 7am. He leaves for school at 8.10am

Dd (aged 15) has to leave for school at 7.15 am. She goes to bed between 9-9.30am & gets up at 6am.

Dd goes to bed at 9 on weeknights but doesn't fall asleep until about 10.30. She gets up at 7.30 so yes about 9 hours. I reckon she sleeps about 10 hours at the weekend. I think that's about right for a 13 year old.

Mine used to sleep for 9 hours a night.

Oh I missed the main point. Yes dd often says she is sleepy at school even with all that sleep. Not sure if she is just going through a growth spurt which is taking all her energy? Also she eats too much sugary crap which probably gives her slumps throughout the day. How is your dds diet?

My DS is a couple of months off being 13 and he sleeps 9.30/10pm until 6.30am so similar to your DD.

Very occasionally when he's been doing a lot of sport (3+ hours) he'll head off to bed at 8.30pm.

My 12 year old sleeps 9 pm - 6:45 am and that still isn't enough for her! In fact that is about the amount I would like :-)

Thanks all for your comments and advice. I think part of the problem is that she is not eating enough. She has dramatically cut down on food this term and says she is not hungry at all. She has always been very active and is lean though not thin. Could it be a phase that she will grow out of or should I be worried?

I'd keep an eye on her eating.

my 13 year old sleeps for about 8-9 hours.
Ger her vitamin D and iron levels if always tired and definitely keep an eye on her eating, she won't have enough energy if not eating enough.

Try making her aware that food = fuel. Like petrol in a car.

Our 14yo DD goes to bed at 9pm because we all know they don't go to sleep immediately. I'd say she is asleep around 945 but rested and alarm goes off at 630 as need to be out the house at 7am.

I second keeping an eye on diet/eating I have found with Dd she likes to exercise control in this area in the sense that she will choose how much/what she wants for breakfast. She hates eating too early though (can't say I blame her) and will often try and get away with just fruit etc. She will then take custard creams to school to snack on ! By this age they've had the talks about health etc but worth reiterating. I've had to say yes fair enough choose your own breakfasts but make sure it includes a good dose of protein .

Dd gets anxiety and sleep terrors which make her sleepy during day she also is on a three week cycle so we need to ensure sh3 gets enough iron..all things to watch out for too. It's tough on the body being a teen

DS is 13. Goes to bed at 9.30pm and wakes at 7am. He plays a lot of sport and is sometimes tired by early evening but not usually in the school day. If bedtime is nearer 10pm then that does tend to have quite a big impact.