I Have a 13 Year Old Boy Who Can's Fall Asleep.

By any chance is there an electric clock near him that he can see? A night light? those little glimmers of light in the room are just enough to create shadows in mine and keep me awake. How about cell phones?Even those go off sometimes with the volume muted but light up. If we aren't deeply sleeping we can be aware of those. Look around. It's amazing what little things we wake up to.

my teens were going at life hard, between homeschool co-ops, outings, field trips, school work and sports. they usually stayed up late, slept late, and hit the world hammer and tongs inbetween.
puberty could be playing into it too. couldn't hurt to have a physical, and try some of the old-fashioned things like a warm bath, a little lavender spritz on the pillow, some sleepytime tea.
but mostly i'd run that boy ragged!
khairete
S.

I have one same age who has sleep issues. Has he had this for a while or is it a recent thing?

we tried melatonin. Worked quite well for us. Natural and our doctor just recommended it. I hadn't heard of it before.

I agree with the exercise (so long as not right before bed). Sometimes just a relaxing routine before bedtime can help too - reading, or just hanging with you. I banned electronics before bed because I found that wired them up.

The main reason my guy has problems falling asleep is his mind doesn't shut off. He's a thinker and sometimes can be a bit anxious and it would come out at bedtime. Then he'd stay awake longer thinking "I can't fall asleep..". So as funny as it sounds, we did therapy (just a session or two) to help him learn how to relax. That and a fan. I found the fan really helped - white noise.

Good luck :)

** Oh the therapist just recommended breathing exercises and learning to relax your body - nothing fancy, just basic inhale/exhale stuff.

Have him get a physical - a doctor should know about his sleeping problems.

He needs to sweat every day - running, bike riding, something aerobic - for 30 min to an hour or more - and that will help him sleep at night.
Physical activity does wonders for getting you to sleep deeply and well for the whole night.

My son never sleeps as well as when he is highly active.. Now that for a kid isn't like it is for an adult, I believe that kids needs several hours of physical activity. When my son went to summer school, he signed up for sports and WOW, what a difference... after several hours of playing, at night, he'd sleep like a rock.. Also, I think different foods can affect a person, is he getting too much sugar and not just sugar, but other foods can make a person jittery (esp if they are showing signs of allergies) sometimes when younger, blatant signs of an allergy haven't developed just yet like a rash or sneezing.. sometimes, the signs of allergies are more subtle as in the case of someone now being able to sleep well ..
so that is worth considering. also, hormone fluctuation... when my son is going through a growth spurt, he can't sleep as well..
therefore, the next time your son has a physical, perhaps you can have them do a hormone blood test, just to see how your son is doing..
lastly, about an hour before bed, if not sooner, begin to dim the lights around the house, does he like to read? tv can be over-stimulating, but reading can sometimes help lull a person to sleep, see if he is willing to read.. going straight to bed (unless dead tired) after watching tv for a period of time is hard to come down from... but if you make the house quiet and calm before bed, I think this can definitely help... even a warm shower may him relax more..

good luck

Make sure pre bed screen time isn't stimulating him.
It's a fave the screen/electronics use before bed stimulates the brain & interferes with sleep.

Try a cup of warm decaf tea with milk right before he heads to bed.
Works like a charm here.
Good luck!

My 12 yo daughter has that issue too. Her doctor told me to giver her melatonin which is an over the counter supplement. It has helped her a lot. Ask your son's doctor if they think it could help your son.

Teens often have sleep issues. My SD still does. You can talk to his pediatrician, but you might also consider things like white noise generators or allowing him to be up later at night (normal for teens) or to write in a journal if he has a lot on his mind. My DH is like that - it can even be good things, but if he's thinking about too much, he can't sleep.

Keep his room dark and cool, stop electronics an hour before bed and no caffeine after 6pm. If it's because he keeps "thinking" about things, then get him a little notebook and pen and keep by his bed so he can jot things down. That way, it releases his mind and he hopefully can rest. Good luck.

Have you tried Melatonin? Our doctor suggested it for our son who had trouble settling down. We started him on just 1 mg at night, but we found that he needs 2 mgs.

Most adults will take 5 or 10 mg, so those are the dosages that are easiest to find at a drug store. But you can find it in 3 mg and 1 mg if you really look.

It's completely natural. Your body produces Melatonin, but not always when you need it most. It doesn't help you sleep at night, it just helps you fall asleep.

Is he getting exercise every day? You don't say if he is in sports...perhaps he needs something to tire out his body. Some people just naturally take a long time to fall asleep...I am like this. I read in the evening to make myself sleepy. Does he read before bed? Does he take a long time because he is thinking and thinking about things? Is he worrying? Or does he just not feel sleepy?

Hi H.,

Is your son on medication?

If you're not comfortable sharing here, send me a message. I have a 14 year old who has similar struggles sometimes. We've been able to manage it effectively.

Best,

C.

How many hours of sleep are you trying to make him sleep? He might not need more than 7-8. His body determines how many hours of sleep it needs. Not him.

I have had hard times falling asleep sometimes and Melatonin is a good thing to research and consider. It is what occurs in the body naturally that puts it to sleep. Sometimes people will have to work opposite schedules or lose sleep due to stress or something and they can't fall asleep when it's time so they go to the health food store and get some Melatonin. Then they take a dose the first night. No change. Then they take a dose the second night and they sleep much better. They don't often have to take it the third night because they're body is back on schedule from the second night.