Teen not sleeping. Any advice?

[whattodo2019]

My 14 DD is away at boarding school. She's v happy but is really struggling to sleep at night. She has always been a pickle going to sleep and staying up late. However, she's getting v tired and tearful.

Her days are v busy and so are the evenings so I think her brain is on over drive when she gets into bed.

Does anyone have any advice?

Is she in a room by herself or is she sharing? I used to really struggle with sleep at that age, and listening to Harry Potter audiobooks really helped - i knew the story so well that it didn't keep me awake, but having somethign to focus on turned my brain off enougj for me to sleep.

Otherwise maybe see the GP? Is she stressed/anxious/depressed? That can impact sleep. Potentially being away from home means she's not feeling comfortable or secure enough to sleep? Could you take a few things from home to her to make her feel more relaxed/settled? Does she sleep better at home?

Audiobooks are a good idea or listening to calming music or even meditation apps to wind down and relax? They always send me off to sleep pretty quickly x

My DD is having the same issues, same sort of age, but at home. I am in despair, she is exhausted all the time and growing quite anxious. I've tried reflexology (didn't work although it did help with the anxiety), herbal remedies (work occasionally but I think this may be psychological), burning lavender oil in her room, sleeping with me, letting the dog sleep in her room....... Is there a particular meditation app that someone can recommend?

I use 'stop, breath & think' which is free and have previously used 'calm' which is a subscription based app.. both really good in my opinion. Calm has a lot more choices of things to listen to so worth paying for i think

Thank you
DD is v happy so it's not anxiety
She does share a room with 2 other girls. DD has been like this on and off for years.

I have just been recommended these tablets
www.naturedoc.shop/product/bee-rested-sleep-support/

Try her with a weighted blanket before you try the tablets, it was a game changer for my 13 year old and she now goes out like a light. I borrowed it and had the best sleep ever so am planning on getting my own :)

The tablets are probably a decent shout - even though they likely won't make much difference physiologically speaking, feeling like she's taking a concrete action towards better sleep could have a huge psychological benefit.

A magnesium supplement helps me and dd. We take the Voost effervescent ones - they're great. Also, the bedtime stories on the Calm app are very soothing.

Has she tried ASMR- either podcasts or YouTube clips.

Get her a good quality eye mask & some ear plugs

I have something that helps me fall asleep that she can try:

Choose a category (fruit, countries, whatever) and then try to think of an item for each letter of the alphabet (Apple, banana, cherry, etc). This fills up your working memory with something quite boring and stops you overthinking about other things. I'm always asleep before I get to Z!

Making bedtime a routine can help, keeping more or less always the same bedtime too. Reading or similar quiet activities are a good help. The opposite, any exciting activity is very bad for the sleep, TV, PC and any screen included. Be sure she is not on her phone at least one hour before bedtime (it's plenty of parental control app just to limit screen time), it's the most common cause of bad sleep for teens, due the effect of screen on our eyes and brain (even looking at something quiet create over-excitement).
In addiction to that I think good or bad sleeping is also a habit, she need to reach that night after night and keep it as much as possible, it's not possible to change it just after one or two nights.
Physical activity during the day is another very good thing to help your body easily falling asleep, you will be tired in the evening and your brain will be almost free of bad thoughts.