Why am I so obsessed with my bed? Doctor Sharon explains all below:

 

During sleep our bodies reboot- our brain processes all the information we have gathered during the day [that includes school work!] and the body gets busy repairing muscles, healing wounds, making hormones and growing.

It’s a really important time for the body and allows it to rest and concentrate on all these other jobs rather than doing all the things it normally does during the day. Teen years are particularly important times of change and sleep requirements change too.  In children age 5-12 years old 10-11 hours sleep are needed and in teen years 9-10 hours are ideal. Unfortunately due to changes in our body clocks teens often feel tired later in the evening [ but still have to get up really early for school] and then end up tired all day! Really schools need to start at midday [everyone agree??? – I suppose you want it to finish at 1 then aswell?].

This leads to the typical up late and sleeping half the day at weekends pattern that teenagers are accused of.

What happens if you don’t get enough sleep?

This happens…….

Poor concentration

Low mood

Snappy and irritable with people

Skin is greyer

Eyes are dull

Harder to do anything

Eat more

What if I have trouble sleeping??

Get a good bedtime routine

-Try to go at roughly the same time every night

-Don’t use screens before bed- phone or computer games, laptop or TV all stimulate the wrong bit of your brain before sleep and lead to being alert rather than rested.

-Have a cup of hot chocolate or milky drink before bed- it actually helps- avoid caffeine in coffee or tea

-Try to have the bedroom not too bright or warm.

-if you’re worrying about things and have a lot on your mind- keep a notebook beside your bed and write down the issues before you fall asleep

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ……………..