I have sleeping problems?

Question

alright im a 13 year old boy who weighs from 115-120 pounds and im concerned about my sleeping habits. i usually tend to not fall asleep until a minimum of 1:30 am and i've been waking up at 2pm for a while now and schools comin up so i need my sleep. so far the only thing anyones told me to do was to drink a warm glass of milk cause thats supposed to really work or something which i tried but even though i went to bed at 11pm i couldnt sleep till around 2 to 2:30 am. i woke up the next day at 7:45 with alot of resistence because i had to (for freshmen orientation in high school) and that day i came back and slept at 8pm but i still woke up at 11am and then i just repeated the 2am sleep to 2pm wakin habit. i just wanted to know if any of you readin this could tell me a way to kinda help me sleep a bit earlier so i could wake a bit earlier and not feel so tired. thnx in advance

Answer 1

        I have sleeping issues alot of the time.  Mostly when I work nights for a while and then have to switch to days.  It seems as if you are getting plenty of sleep for someone your age, as you should do because of all of the growing you are doing.  What I would suggest is to cut back on stimulants ie Red Bull, coffee, energy drinks and what not.  If you dont par-take in the those you should start drinking more water.  They say drinking half of your weight in ounces a day will keep your body well hydrated.  You weighing aprox 120 lbs means you should be drinking  at least 60 oz's of water a day.  In order to break this sleeping cycle you will have to force yourself to get up at what ever time you will need to and force yourself to stay awake until a reasonable bed time.  Also if you wake up and  exercise (cardio) that will get all of the chems in your brain on the right track.  Some chems that regulate your sleep and awake states are serotonin and melotonin.  A few tips for making sure that you wake up refreshed and go to sleep without feeling restless:

1) Exercise (15-30 mins of good cardio in the morning), this will help your body wake up and when you go to sleep you will have that spent feeling so you will be able sleep better.  It might take about a week but it will work. (promotes seratonin production in your nugget)

2)Sleep in a cool dark room with warm blankets (that "cozy" feeling is your brain producing melotonin)

3) Have it to where the room is a little bit warmer when you wake up and if possible let some sun in through the window. (Again, this allows your brain to produce natural stimulants, like when you where little and you would wake up early and watch cartoons on saturdays).  At 2:00 PM its not going to get any brighter out so your brain was waking up on its own.

4) After your cardio in the morning, for breakfast you should have some carbs.  The best brain foods for serotonin production are Oatmeal, Honey and Banannas.  So if you eat all of those together for breakfast they will help you by giving you natural energy all day.

5) It is important not to drink caffiene or other stimulants, that will throw the whole cycle off if you are not careful.  You will get plenty of time in college to have late night red-bull fueled cram sessions.   You gotta be patient and have discipline, it could take a week or so.

Hang in there, I know that adjusting your sleep cycles can be a pain.  Just remember to drink lots of water.  Water helps all of your bodies systems work better.  Good luck in High School.

Answer 2

Nope, there's no magic trick. Just set up e time to wake up in the morning, 8:00, 9:00 or whatever thet time you need to be out of bed. keep waking up at the same time avery day, no matter how lazy or tired you feel, and in couple of weeks your body will get used to it and you'll feel fine. it's not about working on going to bed early, but about getting out of bed everyday at the same hour. As a daily routine, try to activate your body as well, keep yourself busy, do some exercise, that will help too. I know it's gonna be hard, but, that's the only way.