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

[clovergirl5]

It's 1:15 pm here and my 12 and 14 yo are still asleep! They get up around 5-5:30am for school M-F. I say let them sleep. It's the only time in life when they get to!

Wow, thats really sleeping in Im curious, what time do they go to bed at night? My kids get up at 5:30am for school too, their bedtime is 7:30pm and are asleep by 8pm. Dd13 usually is asleep by 8:30 or 9pm. They are up on the weekends by 7-8am.

 

[mcco5543]

By all means OP,

I think if a parent is concerned about their child's health then they should indeed talk to the doctor.


you mentioned your child got up around 10-10:30am though. For a teen, that's early! I can/could easily sleep the day away if you let me. I wouldn't consider late morning sleeping in all that much. As long as your child can get up earlier when necessary that's what matters.

I also know a ton of teenagers who did/do go to bed very early by their own choice

 

[LisaR]

I feel I should note that my son is a creature of habit and this new sleeping schedule is something he is not at all pleased with. It has thrown his day off totally. It is definitely not a case of him just being lazy and wanting to blow the day off. He comes out of his room at 10am and is very disappointed in the time. Although he has always required more sleep than my oldest (who doesn't seem to require much sleep at all) he is frustrated by needing all this extra sleep.

We have decided to switch back to his old medication and see if we notice a difference. He does take it twice a day and is able to function perfectly fine after his morning dose so I am not sure if that is the problem or not.

If that doesn't work after a week or two, I will take him in for some blood work. He just had his physical in September but I didn't discuss this with the doctor because it wasn't a problem at the time. He didn't have blood drawn either.

It might just be a combination of things: allergies, puberty, 12 y/o boy.

 

[Disney Doll]

Despite what some other posters think, tenenagers do tend to need a bit more sleep than average because of the physical changes going on in their bodies.

Sounds like the combo of teenager-hood and the new allergy med may be the culprit. I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[momx2]

I feel I should note that my son is a creature of habit and this new sleeping schedule is something he is not at all pleased with. It has thrown his day off totally. It is definitely not a case of him just being lazy and wanting to blow the day off. He comes out of his room at 10am and is very disappointed in the time. Although he has always required more sleep than my oldest (who doesn't seem to require much sleep at all) he is frustrated by needing all this extra sleep.

My DD also complains about the fact that she slept so late and usually blames me for not waking her up. She didn't tell me to wake her...can't be her fault if she slept through the Macy parade yesterday morning.

Anyway, I have found that I think she just all the sudden needs the extra sleep. She isn't up until midnight or anything and she isn't just laying there, she is truly sleeping. I wouldn't be too worried.

Since he is homeschooled, during the week you might want to make him get up at a certain time to develop the routine. Either you wake him or he sets an alarm. They all gotta learn to get up for the real world. He'll get used to it. If you find after a few weeks of insisting he get up at a specific time he is still exhausted, then take him to the doctor.

 

[XYSRUS]

Wow, thats really sleeping in Im curious, what time do they go to bed at night? My kids get up at 5:30am for school too, their bedtime is 7:30pm and are asleep by 8pm. Dd13 usually is asleep by 8:30 or 9pm. They are up on the weekends by 7-8am.

The 2 younger ones are in bed by 9pm on school nights-up at 7:30am. The 2 older are in bed by 10-11pm. The oldest one swims every day and gets home about 9:15 and then eats dinner and finishes up homework. He's been know to stay up til 1 or 2 am to get schoolwork done. That being said, when the weekend rolls around and there's nowhere to be, I let them sleep as much as they like. They're great kids and don't give me any real trouble...so far

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

Lisa your son sounds like 2 of my cousins when we were younger..
I say he's fine

 

[terri01p]

Are you kidding....that's nothing....my dd ( age 25) and her dh ( age 26) it seems like do nothing but work, eat and SLEEP.
I can call them at 5:00 in the afternoon and you would think I have called at midnight. I know for a fact that they both sleep 14 and 15 hours at a time, on any given day...my Son- I-L can barely keep a job he's so sleepy, seriously, I've never seen any thing like it in all my days.
The other day I called at 10:00 am, they were in the bed, called back at 5:00pm still in the bed, they called me at 9:30pm just getting up, wanting to come over, yeah forget that.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

I think he's okay...he's a teen, and you're right that the new meds may have something to do with his new sleep pattern.

However, if he is bothered by waking up late...have him set an alarm! It doesn't have to be super early, but he could set it for 8 or 9 am. That way he would have an hour or 2 more in the morning.

 

[Boxley]

The kid is a teen, they tend to sleep a lot. Just get an alarm clock.

 

[Schmeck]

OP - is your son overweight, does he snore? If you say yes to either one, he could have sleep apnea, and he's just not getting enough good sleep, so he's oversleeping to try to catch up.

12 year olds need 9-9 1/2 hours of sleep per night, according to Dr. Ferber.

 

[mrsklamc]

Are you kidding....that's nothing....my dd ( age 25) and her dh ( age 26) it seems like do nothing but work, eat and SLEEP.
I can call them at 5:00 in the afternoon and you would think I have called at midnight. I know for a fact that they both sleep 14 and 15 hours at a time, on any given day...my Son- I-L can barely keep a job he's so sleepy, seriously, I've never seen any thing like it in all my days.
The other day I called at 10:00 am, they were in the bed, called back at 5:00pm still in the bed, they called me at 9:30pm just getting up, wanting to come over, yeah forget that.

Op's kid is still at home, sleeping alone. Yours is married. Maybe they ain't sleepin'!

 

[BelleWDW]

You didn't answer-is he homeschooled?

 

[pigletgirl]

Yeah, sounds pretty normal to me...

 

[LisaR]

OP - is your son overweight, does he snore? If you say yes to either one, he could have sleep apnea, and he's just not getting enough good sleep, so he's oversleeping to try to catch up.

12 year olds need 9-9 1/2 hours of sleep per night, according to Dr. Ferber.

He had (past tense) sleep apnea. He went through a sleep study when he was younger and ended up having his tonsils removed. They were huge. After that, his sleep apnea disappeared. He also used to sleep walk but that seems to be gone. He is still very much out of it when he gets up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. He will walk into the wrong room or stop in the middle of the house and sit down. I am usually awake and am able to direct him to the bathroom. Thankfully, he doesn't get up very often anymore. Those were fun times.

You didn't answer-is he homeschooled?

Maybe I missed it but I don't remember being asked. Not sure why it matters but he is homeschooled.

 

[Tinijocaro]

I completely agree. My DS 17 would sleep till noon every day if I let him, but I don't. He has to get up at 6 am for school no matter what time he goes to bed, and on the weekends, except on a very rare occasion, I get him up between 9:30 and 10. In fact, I have to go wake him up right now. They don't NEED that much sleep -- if they do, it's a medical problem -- but at 12 and even older, they LIKE to sleep. Wake him up. And don't be apologetic about it. There's too much life to live. It becomes a habit, like any other drug.

Erin

Research has shown that teens DO in fact, NEED sleep, and lots of it. I totally disagree with forcing a teen to wake early just to get them used to it (unless they have school, job...). Many schools are having high school start later in the morning so that teens can get the sleep they need.

 

[disfan07]

yeah,...the only problem with strating school later is....afte school activities will start adn end later, which means kids will be getting home later, which means they will be up later doing homework which in the end will not equal anymore sleep.

I have to say...My first class in the morning for college is 9:30AM...i am no more awake for that class than I was for my 1st period class in high school at 7:25AM

OP: he might be getting too much sleep. All my doctors have told me that, yes, teen sshould be getting about 9 hours of sleep but more than 10 can actually make them more tired and make them sleep more. I have found this to be true. If I sleep more than 10 hours, I'm more exhausted when i wake up and the rest of the day than I am if I sleep 8-9 hours. I would suggest waking him up after 10 hours of sleep and not letting him nap. He might actually have more energy.

Basically, he's probably sleeping this much because he can. Dont let him. keep him busy during the day...no nap. Wake him up after 9-10 hours of sleep.

 

[LisaR]

yeah,...the only problem with strating school later is....afte school activities will start adn end later, which means kids will be getting home later, which means they will be up later doing homework which in the end will not equal anymore sleep.

I have to say...My first class in the morning for college is 9:30AM...i am no more awake for that class than I was for my 1st period class in high school at 7:25AM

OP: he might be getting too much sleep. All my doctors have told me that, yes, teen sshould be getting about 9 hours of sleep but more than 10 can actually make them more tired and make them sleep more. I have found this to be true. If I sleep more than 10 hours, I'm more exhausted when i wake up and the rest of the day than I am if I sleep 8-9 hours. I would suggest waking him up after 10 hours of sleep and not letting him nap. He might actually have more energy.

Basically, he's probably sleeping this much because he can. Dont let him. keep him busy during the day...no nap. Wake him up after 9-10 hours of sleep.

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.

 

[Traveliz]

You didn't answer-is he homeschooled?

All you have to do is read the Original Post to see where the OP clearly states he is homeschooled.

Liz

 

[SusanWasHere]

I would have him checked for the Epstein Barr Virus. He sounds a lot like I was as a teen. Everyone just thought I was lazy and grumpy when I didn't get enough sleep. I was the kind of kid that got sick if I didn't get my 12 hours of sleep on the weekends since it was impossible during the week with school. In my early 20s I found out I had EBV (like a chronic mono). I am now 38 and still suffer from it. It's a virus that lives in your body and can get activated by other things like stress, other infections, busy schedule, etc. I would absolutely have him tested bc certain vitamins have helped tremendously. Better safe than sorry!!