How Much Sleep Do Teens Need?

The final doctor to present at the MassGeneral Hospital for Children blogger event was sleep heir-t0-Dr. Ferber, Dr. Craig Canapari. He’s also a blogger and is active on Twitter. In fact, I was tweeting with him late one night, thinking the irony — shouldn’t we both be sleeping?!

Not only is he a fun guy and dad, but he had some concrete advice for kids who sleep poorly:

• For “Restless Leg Syndrome” when kids say their legs need to move, try getting them tested for iron. Often times, more iron is the fix.
• How much sleep do teens need? Teenagers need 9 hours of sleep but here’s the kicker: their school starts the earliest AND their circadian rhythm starts to shift later and later at the onset of puberty. Teens not waking up until noon? It’s their body clock! Seriously! This fix is to slowly reset their body clock earlier by going to bed 15 minutes earlier each night until the desired time is set. The challenge is to maintain this sleep schedule even during weekends and vacations.
• Bad Sleep versus No Sleep. Kind of the same thing. Poor sleep or no sleep affects the same part of the brain as ADHD.
• Natural Sleep Remedy. One sleep remedy is the over the counter supplement Melatonin. Dr. Canapari confirmed that you can’t overdose on it. It’s a very safe supplement. Take 2-3 hours before desired bedtime as a sleep aid.

You gotta love a doctor who is plugged in on Social Media. Check out his blog here. He’s active on Facebook and Twitter too.

Here are some of his tweets:

The Science Behind Why Power Naps Help You Stay Productive and Creative http://buff.ly/OLDLpS  only issue is that naps can delay sleep onset

Food Allergy Buzz: Will He Grow Out Of Asthma http://wp.me/p2eNvP-93

And what is he like? He’s extremely personable and should have his own TV show! Oprah, take note!

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