13 Year old son sleeps too much

[disneymomoftwins]

I was just wondering if anyone else has this problem. My son stays up late and its ok with us, so we expect him to sleep a little late. He has football practice 2 days a week from 8:30 am to 10:30 am so he is up early on those days. But the other days he wants to stay in bed all day long. Is it just teenage hormones? He has a twin sister who is up early and always ready to do something or go somewhere, so we see a big difference and it is starting to concern me. Any suggestions?

 

[Tinkh]

My 16-year old is the exact same. Could easily sleep 12 hours a day. I bet your boy is staying up super late and then wanting to sleep most of the day. Drives me batty, but he is a good kid so I try and not nag him too much. It scared me at first because I have never slept that much in my whole life, but my husband said it is a boy thing and that he did the same thing.

 

[disneymomoftwins]

Thank goodness its sort of normal. I know what you mean about not wanting to nag because he is a good kid. He makes straight A's and I never have a problem getting him up for school. Thank you for replying and easing my mind.

 

[sah95]

I know the feeling
My 13 yr. old will go to bed 11p.m., sleep till noon, get up & do his chores, then go back to sleep till 5p.m. or so. I don't have a minute's trouble (yet) out of him, so it doesn't bother me as long as he takes care of his responsiblities.

 

[mstinson14]

My 14 yo dd is the same way doesn't go to sleep untill 11 or 12, she wants to sleep all day, I think its just teenagers

 

[Mrs. Charming]

I'm going to say he's just a teenager. He's got his whole adult life to be waking up early. He's a growing boy, I wouldn't worry. I was the same, but a girl (obviously.) I wish I could sleep like that now!

 

[LuvLDM]

Teens need a lot of sleep, your Ds sounds quite typical

 

[DreadpiratK]

Sounds normal, at least in my experience. I just want to know when they out grow it. My 20 y.o. DS came home from college 3 weeks ago, and has been keeping a similar schedule. I thought I'd give him a break at first since he's in a very competitive and difficult program at college and gets top grades so he works very hard at school, but 3 weeks into the summer and he's still up till 2 am and sleeps till 12 or later. I suppose I would have done the same at his age, if I had ever had the chance. My dad did not believe in sleeping late, period. You got up and got to work, even if you didn't have any work to get to. Scary when you find yourself sounding just like your parents, isn't it?

 

[Duckiedee]

I read somewhere that teens need 10 to 12 hrs sleep/day.

If you are worried though - you could get his iron tested. Mine was super-low and undetected for 2 years in high school...

 

[Chelley00]

Oldest DS was sleeping ALL THE TIME around the time he turned 14? I was worried and took him to the doctor who said it was normal for teens, especially if they are going to hit a growth spurt. She ran some bloodwork, everything was fine, he grew 7 inches and is back to a normal sleeping schedule.

 

[Jill in Chicago]

It is very normal. I recently read that a teen's inner body clock that says, "I feel sleepy" doesn't kick in until much later at night than an adult's body clock.

When I slept in, as a teenager, it also drove my parents nuts. Why? If you give a teen chores for the day and say, "The chores must be done by 5:00 p.m.," and the chores are completed who cares when they get up?

If they have to get up and be to work, or for school or other responsibilities and they are handling these responsibilities why does it bother parents that their teens sleep until noon?

My mom would vacuum outside my bedroom door and slam the vacuum into my door (yes she admitted and was proud of the fact she did this on purpose). Why?

 

[NHdisneylover]

I agree it is typical. DD13 will get up for school, when travelling, but given the option she will sleep until noon or later.
DS11 just started having trouble getting up about 4-5 months ago. He has also grown 5 inches since January and gotten much more muscular so I figure his hormones are kicking in now too.

 

[MomRN]

I've always been a big fan of sleep... unfortunately, since having my ds, going to nursing school, and working nights, I don't get nearly what I want, but do seem to get what I need (about 7hrs a night). If given the chance to sleep 12 hours a day though I would, and I did when I was a teenager. Easily. Sometimes 14 hours.

Ahhhh....those were the days.

 

[mousebymarriage]

DD13 could easily sleep all day if I let her. She gets up for school no problem and has excellent grades(straight A's in all advanced classes) but the girl does love to sleep on the weekends and so do all of her friends. She also plays softball and basketball and the coaches really kick their butts during practice so, I know that can wipe her out. I also found out that when I thought my DD was going to sleep at 11pm she was actually lying in bed in the dark texting her friends., now her phone goes on the kitchen counter at bedtime. I wouldn't worry about it because just about everyone I know that has a teenager says the same thing about teens being able to sleep all day long.

 

[Deesknee]

Another vote for normal here. 2 out of 3 of my teens where night owls, then slept most of the day. The other teen would go to bed a little earlier, get up much earlier, but then take a nap. A side note: along with the iron, just watch for signs of depression. If your worried Google one of the medical websites, they usually have symptoms of that. But, I bet he is just an average teen.

 

[kellyg403]

I agree with the others, totally normal. I read somewhere once that teens almost regress to infants hormonally. Their bodies are doing so much growing and working they actually need the same amount of sleep as an infant. Typically, close to 14 hours a day! Now, I don't know if its 'true' but all my teens went through a period starting around 15 where they slept a lot. I have one teen that will be 17 and she STILL sleeps like the dead! But then I have to remind her that her sleep cycle is off. She comes home from school and takes a nap, stays up til 12/1 and then sleeps till 12 and it starts over again. I would like to think her 'inner' clock is out of whack.

As long as they do what they ask, I don't bug them much in the summer time. Now, during the school year I get on them for coming home from school and taking a 4 hour nap and then staying up because they have napped all afternoon, the cycle continues to repeat. So we have a rule that if you feel like taking a nap in the afternoon, you must set your alarm for 1 hour later and get up and moving.

Kelly

 

[Magpie]

I've got one like that!

My 12yo son sleeps like the dead - sometimes I go to drag him out of bed for school and I feel like poking him with a stick to see if he's still alive.

On school days we try to get him into bed by 9 every night, but come Friday he's usually so tired his eye is twitching. Apparently 10 hours a night just isn't enough!

On weekends he'll typically go to bed at 10 and get up about 12 hours later.

My thought is... if that's what he needs, then that's what he needs. He's been doing a lot of growing lately. And eating, too!

My 14yo daughter is completely different. She's usually up before anyone else in the house, and some nights she says she can't sleep at all. But she was never a sleeper when she was a baby, either.