There has been a great deal of research about teenagers and sleep lately (much of it in the US), which has fascinating implications for parents of children of all ages. However it seems sleep problems are as much about biology as they are about attitude for many teens.

The sleep-wake cycle for teenagers is delayed by up to two hours. That is, they are sleepy later and awake later than when they were children.

Most teens secrete melatonin, which makes them sleepy, around 11.00pm, which makes the time before then a sleepless zone. Children secrete melatonin far earlier than this.

Cortisol, the chemical that wakes them up, is secreted at 8.15am for many teens. It seems the teen brain wants to be asleep just when most have woken up.

One US study found that 20% of teens where asleep in class in the morning, which had catastrophic effects on learning. As a result many high schools have delayed the start of school time to accommodate the teen sleep-wake cycle. This enabled teens not only to get more sleep but to be at their best (or at least awake) when they are at school.

The results were startling and immediate including: better learning, better behaviour, less fights and less kids dropping out of school.

Sleep experts stress that while adults may not have control over biology we can assist by helping children and teens establish good sleep patterns. It has been noted that children who develop good sleep patterns tend to carry these into adolescence. If you are parent of young children struggling to get them to sleep or battling kids who want to stay up longer then some knowledge of good sleep habits maybe useful.

Good sleep habits include:

1.Regular bed-times. Kids may fight this, but be regular and let kids stay up a little later on weekends.

2. A wind-down time of at up to 45 minutes prior to bed. This includes, removing TV and other stimuli, calming children down, and limiting food intake (and caffeine for teens).

3. Bed-time routine such as story, teeth-cleaning that signalled psychologically that it is time for sleep.

4. Keeping bedrooms for sleep and not for TV. Bedrooms that resemble caves seem to be recommended.

5.Maximising the 3 sleep cues of: darkness (cave-like bedroom), lowering body temperature (baths can be good for this) and melatonin (work within their cycle).

Sleep is important for the following reasons:

1. It maximises brain growth, which occurs with toddlers and teens.
2. It enables what is learned today to stick.
3. It prepares kids to learn tomorrow. (Sleep-deprivation is akin to jet lag, where we don’t function at out optimum.

It seems that sleep is one thing that we can all become educated about. We take it for granted and often view poor sleepers through a behavioural lens. Better knowledge of the biology of sleep and also sleep patterns will go a long way to helping kids and teens get a good night’s sleep.