Bedtime for 15 yp

[Elizo]

What time is your 15yo going to bed? Mine is constantly exhausted - lights out 1030 but he gets up 645 on school days (he doesn’t leave the house until 8 but wants to get up early).

It’s the major battleground between us and it’s hard seeing him like a zombie. He insists on not going to bed earlier and I think he does struggle to sleep earlier. No phone in his room usually…

Any ideas?

At that age I met them figure it out themes. Natural consequences etc. Though to be fair they follow in my night owl and little sleep required footsteps.

My DS2 is nearly 15 and goes to bed a bit earlier that that. Leaving aside bedtime though, I think it's a bit worrying that you describe him as constantly exhausted. Maybe worth a trip to the GP to get a blood test? My DS2 is active and energetic. Or do you think it's end of term tiredness?

I think end of term is a factor. He is still doing sport with his mates. I just don’t think he is getting enough sleep. Maybe I should consider GP though…

Mine is 16 yo. The only thing we control is phone downtime (midnight) and ask her to be done with the bathroom by 11 pm, as my husband is a light sleeper.
She is usually asleep at some point between 11 and 11:30, gets up at 6:45 without an issue.
If she's grumpy in the morning, we mention that she might feel better if she went to sleep a bit earlier. It's for her to figure it out, ultimately.

Weekend any time dt want (as long as theyre not grumpy).
School night they go up at 10 (probably 15/20 min faffing). They get up 630/645 dt1 has difficulty getting up but has asd. Dt2 has no problems (dt2 also stays up later at weekends too so obviously doesn't need as much sleep).

My son is a year older but for the last two years or so he hasn't been getting enough sleep. He would aim to go to bed at about 10.30 but he'd be awake or still up for another hour after that. I'd wake him about 6.15, otherwise he'd be late for school. At the weekend he'd sleep in. And yes, he was always tired.
I don't think they find it easy to sleep earlier because of their body clock etc. My son is on school hols now after GCSEs and he's not tired anymore as he can get up when he likes!

Yeah. I would really like to step back like that, but I think it is affecting him. Other family members have said he looks v tired.

If he does a lot of sports and is still growing, he could have low iron, which is relatively easy to correct.

i am led to believe that this is normal for teenage boys.. google why is my teen so tired.

its all to do with them growing etc..

at 15 i was allowing my girls to manage their own bedtimes. normally they would be in their rooms by 9, and lights off by 10.30 ish.

He is going through a growth spurt. He is just 15 and is doing a lot of the growing his peers seemed to do a year or two ago.

DS is 14 and goes to sleep between 10 and 10.30 depending on clubs. He gets up at 6am.

I was always tired at school at that age. I used to stay up late watching the TV that was in my room- Prisoner Cell Block H which I don't think even started until 11.40 or so. My mum was laid back and didn't say anything.

Mine goes to bed at 11pm and is awake at 7pm
TBH, I'd rather it was a bit earlier, but he's a rubbish sleeper (SEN) so he has to be properly tired when he goes to bed - otherwise he'd be up all night and unsettled

7am!

DS is 14 and goes up to bed at 8, I tend to nudge him at 9.30pm to turn off Alexa and light and go to sleep. He's up at 6.45am.

He's SEN and needs a nudge otherwise he'd be awake playing Lego until 11.30 I am sure. No concept of time. I notice if he's in bed/sleeping after 10 or 10.30 he is sleepy in the morning and can't get up. It's just what works for us. I also need to do this timetable but distracted reading/mumsnetting (pretty sure ADHD).

The reason teen sleep is so tricky is they're switching into adult sleep patterns but still need child amounts of sleep - body clock is shifting to later bedtimes so they can't get to sleep earlier but ideally they'd get 10-12 hours sleep. It's a bugger, and pretty insoluble with the way school timings run.

Yes, if school ran on teen time it would start at 10 or 11 am not 9am.

There have been quite serious discussions about this in things like the Times Ed Supplement!

One interesting theory I read lately was that in the early times of humans, there needed to be people awake at different times to make sure there was always someone on watch night and day. Teens and other night owls were the nigh watch people. I can't remember the science but it made sense when I read it : ) Just imagine your teen with spear to hand, next to the flickering fire by the cave mouth, keeping the tribe safe in the depths of night.

Wouldn't work now as they'd be too busy on snapchat to observe stealthy approach of cave lion.

Teens needs a huge amount of sleep but sadly we have designed / structured their lives to make this very very difficult for them!

It's insane how early secondary school starts - most teens would sleep until midday and then stay up late - that is their natural rhythm.

We should have a secondary school day that is something like 10 til 5,

the weird thing is that we make teens get up even earlier than most working adults

My 12 year old also has to get up at 645/ 7 - school bus at 745 - even I find it painful getting up at that time daily and just having to go to get out. Its not realxing - modern life sucks.

Mine has lights off at 9.30. Any later than that and he's horrible the next day. He agrees with it (though he's been going at 10 since football has been on and is now saying it should be 10) because he knows how tired he gets and doesn't want that to happen.

Mine seems to be more concerned about going to bed late than not being tired. He is generally doing v well grade wise at school, but a teacher called me last week to say he doesn't seem present in class. I can well imagine what she means. I talked to him about it and he said he would participate more. This week is lights out at ten because he has school exams all week. I can't find any solution other than hoping he soon doesn't need so much sleep.

My DS was constantly tired too, looked exhausted and struggled to get up in the morning. Blood test showed very low vitamin D. Might be worth getting some bloods done at the GP?

Yeah I think I should consider. He is always up with loads of time (I am trying to persuade him to get up later - is 1 hr 15 needed to get ready?). But I do think blood tests is a good shout

@Elizo it might be worth a doctor appointment. It just crossed my mind late last night, perhaps he isn't getting quality sleep?

I think I was about that age when I had some indicators about a few minor jaw issues that I was unaware of impacting my sleep.

or right ok. yeah will try that, could be the case.