14 hours of sleep for a 12 y/o??

[shortbun]

Yeah-12 is when my son started sleeping til noon every chance he got. In the summer, he sleeps until 1 or 2 unless I wake him up. Here's the difference between mine and yours: My son stays up until 11 on school nights/up at 8am and during the summer he was often up until 1am. He's always getting 9 to 12 hours sleep but I think going to bed at 8pm is excessively early for a 12yo. Doesn't he have evening activities or friends that he communicates with who are up? See, my son is texting and calling his friends, doing homework, playing team sports, watching some TV on week nights and on weekends he with his friends either here or at their homes.

 

[clovergirl5]

I'm sorry but I don't agree. He isn't napping and he isn't tired during the day. He has always been an early morning kid. He loves his morning time alone to do the stuff he enjoys doing. He hates waking up later and having to immediately start school work. He has tried getting up early a couple times now and it results in falling asleep on the sofa by 7PM because he is so tired. If he had been sleeping 14 hours a day for the past 12 years, I would agree. This is new behavior for him. It is something he wants to fix. He has gotten up on his own without an alarm clock for years. If he sets his clock now, he sleeps right through it. The space shuttle returned this morning and the sonic boom woke up my 14 y/o but DS slept right through it! Trust me, it is LOUD. He used to be a light sleeper and now he is dead to the world. Something has changed in him in the past month or so. I did measure him today and he has grown 2 inches taller in a month.

Maybe its time for a talk with his dr. That seems a little much to me. If nothing comes from seeing the dr. at least you can clear your mind of it being nothing serious. Im sure the dr. would have better advice or reasons than here. Its probably nothing, but it could be something, I would have him checked out just to be safe.

 

[clovergirl5]

Really? Maybe he's bored with the one on one with mom all day. Maybe he needs the structure of a regular school-that will get him out of bed.

Your kidding right? Talk about opinionated! That was kind of uncalled for don't you think?

 

[clovergirl5]

OMG! Thank you so much. You must be right. I will run out on Monday and sign him up. Good to know that kids that go to school happily jump out of bed every morning. I know I certainly did.

What an incredibly rude statement to make. I had so much more typed out but you aren't worth it.

 

[clovergirl5]

Your kid is waking up at 10 am. I would guess that 99% of parents on this board have their kids up at 6-7am to eat breakfast and catch the bus or ride to school. That was my point. Make him start "class" at 9am to get him out of bed.

There apparently is something not quite right with your son's sleeping patterns. Hope you figure it out with a doctor perhaps?


Background: He took two 2 hours naps a day until he was four and than he took one 2 hour nap a day until he was six. He has almost always had an 8PM bedtime and is honestly sound asleep by 8:02PM.
Also-the napping your son took was way, way over the norm when he was little.Kids usually dont nap after the age of 3. Did your pedistrician say anything back then?

If that was your point, it sure didn't come out that way. There is a nice way to do it and a rude way, guess which way yours came out? Are you a Pediatrician? My kids took naps well past 3, not all kids are alike, thankyou. My children are all very good sleepers too. They sleep 10-12 hrs/night. And they attend school. Who are you to tell op to send her kid to school to solve his sleep issue. Wow, just wow. The tenancity of some people is unbelievable

 

[clovergirl5]

OP,

If your son is irritated by the fact that he's sleeping more, and it ends up to be nothing, (blood work is fine, allergy med doesn't seem to be a factor etc..) maybe you can show him some literature regarding teens needing more sleep and it will help him feel better about it! And if it still bothers him that much, he can always set an alarm to his preffered wake up time. An alarm never hurt anyone as long as he's not insisting he get himself up at 6am. As a teen, he really does need (and deserve!) that extra sleep. But if he's an early to bed type of kid and he wants to get up around 8 ish by setting an alarm I'm sure 12 hours of sleep will be plenty for him.

Great idea!