Has anyone had any experience of their GC needing lot of sleep of did their children, when teenagers need lot of sleep ?

For the last 11 years my DGS has been a finicky fussy eater, permanently underweight, but otherwise fine and a very light, easily disturbed sleeper.

Last September he went up to secondary school and is rapidly reaching his 12th birthday. At Christmas he ate non-stop, everything, kept coming back for seconds, thirds etc. and he has gone from first up, even before me, to last up, being winkled out by his mother.

Suddenly my old rule of not serving lunch to anyone still wearing their pyjamas has become meaningful again.

DerbyshireLass

Lexisgranny

My experience was that this was just a stage they went through. It generally ran alongside being a stranger to the bathroom, which was rapidly followed by the bathroom engaged for hours on end.

My two followed the same trajectory, with the pattern being pronounced with the youngest. They both also ate like horses,

At the age of 14, the youngest grew 6 inches in 6 months, so it was hardly surprising all he wanted to do was sleep and eat.

When my eldest son was 16 he found walking was very painful and his doctor thought he might have broken his heel playing rugby. It turned out that he had grown so fast that his Achilles tendon had not stretched with the bone growth and he had to have months of physiotherapy. He ended up being 6ft 7ins tall by the time he was 20! You can imagine how much it cost me to feed him!

Lexisgranny

My experience was that this was just a stage they went through. It generally ran alongside being a stranger to the bathroom, which was rapidly followed by the bathroom engaged for hours on end.

My two followed the same trajectory, with the pattern being pronounced with the youngest. They both also ate like horses,

At the age of 14, the youngest grew 6 inches in 6 months, so it was hardly surprising all he wanted to do was sleep and eat.

My experience was that this was just a stage they went through. It generally ran alongside being a stranger to the bathroom, which was rapidly followed by the bathroom engaged for hours on end.

Apparently a few drops feels like a jugful.

Callistemon21
Yes, indeed splashes of water i heard that before.
Im surprised my DD doesn't get the flippin hosepipe haaaaaa.

Serendipity22

Just been chatting to a DD who had been up at the crack of dawn done some yoga and had a swim.

I remember when she was about 15, sprinkling water on her, trying to get her out of bed to go to school.

LadyStardust

I think phones in bed are just the 21st century equivalent of Radio Luxemburg, under the pillow and the latest copy of Jackie being read under the bedclothes with a torch. {smile}

???
Oh, I remember it well.
Radio Luxembourg but not Jackie- that must be after my teenage years!

joannapiano
Yes thats the main focus today, phones, social media.
They weren't around when my DD and DS were young.

Our 13 year old DGD is staying with us for Half Term. It is fairly tricky to get her to appear from under the duvet in the morning. Offers of tea/toast/waffles do help.
This morning she knew she had to be out of the house about 9, to go to sports training, and after a prolonged session in the bathroom , she was ready when her friend arrived to give her a lift.
My children were fairly good at getting up, but they didn’t have the wretched mobile phones.

My son used to sleep for hours (still does actually) I had trouble convincing the GP that he had glandular fever "All teenagers sleep a lot" but at that point it was 24 hours a day!

i find turning the grill on and cooking bacon gets them up
use alternatives if vegetarian

but yes they SLEEP!

Esspee

Could it be boredom, poor health or just laziness?

No?...its a completely normal part of child development

my son went through a phase when he was 13/14 of sleeping so much that i took him to the doctor, they explained that is was just something some teenagers go through (usually boys), it was all to do with changes in his body and the feelings of growing up. not a wee boy anymore but not a grown up yet. my son sadly had to grow up a bit quicker as i was a full time carer for my husband the last 7 years of his life, he would keep an eye on him so i could go and get the food shopping, but he has always said it has made him into the man he is today. if your gs is attending school and seems okay then don't worry but if it is affecting his day to day life then see the doctor.

Oh, girl/boy friends are also excellent for getting soap dodgers into the shower!

He does sound very normal Serendipity.

I had to laugh when you said about amazing how they can spring out of bed when meeting X Y and Z

That made me think about the other week when my DD rang me to tell me that my GS was up suited and booted, up with the lark, HAIR WASHED, TEETH BRUSHED, I almost dropped the phone in shock.

I think my DD almost crashed the car up a lampost on her way to work, in utter shock. Hahaha and oooooo low and behold a girl suddenly appears on the scene!!!!

Unbelievable ( says she who was ofcourse whiter than the driven snow !!!)

Hahahaha

Thank you for your posts, i feel a LOT better, like i say, I cant remember my DD or DS sleeping soooo much.

I think phones in bed are just the 21st century equivalent of Radio Luxemburg, under the pillow and the latest copy of Jackie being read under the bedclothes with a torch. {smile}

www.familylives.org.uk/advice/teenagers/health-wellbeing/teenagers-and-sleep

Teenagers change their sleep patterns.
Phones should be left downstairs, perhaps on charge, despite arguments!
I was caught by a younger DGD who said she needed to take her phone to bed to play soothing music on her phone to help her get to sleep. No, she wasn't she was chatting to a friend!

My eldest son possessed outstanding talent for sleeping long and hard when he was a teen. He could sleep though anything! I used to despair of ever seeing him pre lunchtime. Now as an adult he frequently wakes me up by messaging me at 7.30 in the morning!!

Our son needed a lot of sleep as a teenager. He used to take himself off to bed at about 9.30 sometimes. We bought him a teeshirt which had written on the front "Don't wake me, I'm busy".

agnurse thank you, yes he is absolutely fine in himself, he doing very well at school, ahead of his class, his health is good, he has friends and he has a little job every evening, so all in all he is in a good place ( which is more than be said for his answering back to his mum !!!! )

SueDonim hahaha i like that ( olympic sport ) seriously though, i do thank you for your reply, yours and everyone else's have lifted me because i was beginning to think hmmmmmm is this normal? Like i say, i cant remember my DS or DD needing all this amount of sleep.

donim Sue Donim

My daughter could sleep all weekend with two duvets on the bed when an older teenager. But as Donim said she could drag herself out if there was somewhere to go on Saturday night.

Teenagers need at least 8 or 10 hours sleep a night. Their bodies and brains are developing very fast and they do need more sleep than adults and sometimes younger children.

Here is a useful link: www.bupa.co.uk/newsroom/ourviews/sleep-patterns-in-teenagers

agnurse

Teenagers actually need almost as much sleep as young children, and they often experience delayed sleep phase (meaning they're up half the night and then sleep until noon). All of this is physiologically and developmentally normal.

Is he fine in himself? Eats well, does well at school, sees his friends? If all of these things are fine, it's probably not a major issue.

My parents used to have a rule at the weekends and during the summer. You had to put in an appearance for lunch. (Assuming you weren't working.) Breakfast was optional.

My teens especially the boys were just like this. If they weren't appearing by lunch time l called them and it was usually hunger that got them up. Never let them sleep past that. Grown up now and up bright and early every day.