Summer Sleep to Diagnose Teen Sleep Need

During the school year, wake-up times are dictated by school start times. Most teens have to be at school by 8:00 am but as early at 7:00 am in many cases. Teenagers tend to stay up later and later on school nights each year for a variety of reasons including changes in circadian cycling, homework demands, and the attractions of social media. On weekends during the school year, teens usually sleep late on Saturday and Sunday morning, making up the sleep debt built up over the preceding week.

There is no simple answer to the question, “How much sleep do children at different ages need?” While teens sleep less and less as they get older, and the presumption can be made that most are not getting enough sleep for optimal functioning, there are also individual differences among children. Some children may get by with less sleep than others. Some children may also be able to benefit more than others from “paying off” sleep debt with extra weekend sleep. So how does one determine if a teenager is getting enough sleep? Summer is an ideal time to estimate sleep needs, as the schedule is more flexible, allowing for later wake-up times. Here is a guide:

1. Assess sleep need during a period when the teen is not sick or taking any medications that might influence sleep.
2. Keep a diary of bedtime and wake time for one week when the sleep pattern is “typical” and no unusual events take place (e.g. sleepovers; late night movies or concerts)
3. The average hours slept is a rough estimate of sleep need.

The larger the discrepancy between sleep need assessed in the summer and sleep patterns during the school year, the more probable that school year sleep is not sufficient to meet daily demands. Sleep need estimated in this manner may be a low estimate, as sleep need is partly determined by the activities of the day and week. Attending school is intellectually and emotionally demanding, and more sleep may be needed when tasks and events are particularly challenging.

Another way of determining if a teen has had enough sleep is to consider daytime behavior and signs of sleepiness. Teens can self-rate and parents can rate the way they function and feel either informally or with a rating scale completed at the end of each day such as:

Rate your energy level during the day (1-10). Did you have enough energy to do what you wanted to do?

Rate your mental sharpness during the day (1-10).

Rate your affect or mood during the day (1= felt lousy all day 10= felt terrific all day)

This kind of informal rating scale can be used again in the Fall when school begins. Any decline from baseline rating may be related to sleep insufficiency.