What is a good bedtime for my adolescent child?
Alison Scott, pediatrician: “It’s not realistic to make your 16-year-old go to bed at 9pm (though if they want to, that’s awesome) so you have to shift your expectations. But there are a few good sleep-helping rules to keep in mind: no meal two hours before bedtime, no exercise two hours before bedtime, no screen in your room at least an hour before bedtime. Make sure they know that bed is only for sleep—not homework or chatting with your friends. They may have developed some bad habits around sleep, plus with teenagers melatonin is being released a bit later, so there’s a biological change as well. It’s a perfect storm for bad sleep. Just support them as best you can, and help them develop those sleep habits that’ll serve them well now and forever.”