I Can Sleep Better

With so many gadgets to play with and use and with so many parties to attend who would want to sleep better? With so many distractions today, people—especially the younger ones or the teenagers—are having a hard time to get better sleep. This should not be a problem but it goes to show how poor the quality of young people is today. Many of them do not perform well in school because they rarely get sufficient sleep due to all these distractions.

If you are one of those parents who are having problems that their teenagers are not getting the right amount of sleep that they should, here are some tips that you can share with them.

1. Ask them to cut down on their caffeine intake. If you are doing the grocery shopping, then you should be the one who monitors their foods and drinks that contain caffeine such as coffee, chocolates, sodas and teas. Since you cannot monitor their routines outside of your home, it is a must to remind them to cut out on these foods and drinks. You can do this by telling them of the bad effects of caffeine not only in sleeping but in their overall health as well.

2. Tell them that alcohol is not a “sleeping aid”. Many adults resort to alcohol to sleep fast. Since their bodies are much older, they can tolerate the effects of alcohol but this should not be the case among the younger ones. If you are a parent, try to tell your child that although alcohol may help him or her to fall asleep, it may cause disturbances that may lead to lesser quality of sleep. Aside from not really helping them to get better sleep, it may also affect their overall health and physical appearance since alcohol may cause early aging.

3. Teach them how to relax before their bedtime. Although this is much easier to do when they are toddler, parents should still try to teach their youngsters how to relax a bit when they are about to go to sleep. You can do this by spending time with the teenager and talk about how he or she should handle the everyday stress either in school or in growing up. If the teen is able to talk about these things before bedtime, he or she will have a peaceful sleep without thinking of so many things. You can also ask her or him to do relaxing activities such as reading a book or practicing yoga if you are not around to talk to.

4. Ask them to get regular exercise. If regular exercise helps older people to get better sleep at night, it will also help the young. Explain to your child the importance of having just the right amount of exercise in getting better sleep and achieving optimum health. To make it more effective, join your teenager in doing regular exercises such as light jogging or brisk walking. If he or she sees that you are “walking your talk” there is greater chances for him or her to obey you.

5. Give enough hours for television or for Internet. For a teenager to get better sleep, there should be less hours for him or her to spend watching TV programs or browsing the Internet. Since these two are major distractions, it is a must that parents restrict them from spending too much time on these activities so can sleep better at night.