Here are 10 simple tips to make sure that an otherwise healthy child enjoys the level of sleep needed to perform well in school.*? Despite the fact that teenagers will sometimes spend a great deal of time in their bedroom and turn it into much more of a 'living' than a 'sleeping' room, avoid using the bed for anything other than sleeping. Do not sit in bed, watching TV, reading, writing, playing games or anything else but reserve it only for sleeping so that your body learns to associate climbing into bed with going to sleep.*? Do not be tempted to take a nap after school. Should you find that you are so tired you are unable to keep your eyes open then take a nap but limit it to no more than 45 minutes or an hour.*? Do not take any vigorous exercise within several hours of going to bed. If you want to play soccer or engage in other sporting or vigorous activities then do these shortly after finishing school and not an hour or two before bedtime.*? Ensure that you get up at the same time each morning, regardless of whether or not it is a school day. Teenagers usually get up late at the weekends and throughout school holidays and, rather than making you feel better, this just disrupts your pattern of sleep.*? When it comes to bedtime ensure that your bedroom is quiet, dark and cool. Do not close the room up, turn up the heat and climb into bed to watch TV. Rather, lower the heat, open the window a little if you can to allow in some fresh air and have the room as dark as you can get it.*? Avoid eating a heavy meal too close to bedtime. You certainly do not want to go to bed hungry and having a light snack prior to bedtime is okay, however climbing into bed on a full stomach will make it difficult to fall asleep and affect your quality of sleep.*? Do not consume any form of drink which contains caffeine after about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. This naturally applies to coffee and tea, but also includes chocolate drinks and colas.*? Should you find that you are unable to fall asleep within say 20 minutes of getting into bed then do not simply lie in bed trying to get to sleep, as the more you try the harder it will get. As an alternative, get up and do something such as reading a book or listening to some relaxing music. Once you begin to feel tired, climb back into bed and you will be asleep in no time at all.*? Do not be tempted to stay up late doing your homework or getting ready for a test. Despite the fact that this could seem like the solution to a specific problem in the short term, and may well keep you out of trouble for handing your homework in late or see you through a test, in the longer run your performance will fall and any short term gain will soon disappear.*? Fix a regular time for going to bed and try not to vary this time by more than a few minutes from day to day.



If you follow these 10 tips you will find that within no time at all your quality of sleep will improve, you will feel much more awake and active during the day and your school grades will improve.