It can be so difficult to motivate tired teens to get out of bed in the mornings for school. Here are some tips that may help the process.
Once school is back, it can be incredibly hard to get teenagers out of bed in the mornings. The summer has allowed them to relax and spend hours in bed when usually they’d be up and gone in the mornings.
As they find their way, it is only natural that there will be some upset when you need to get them up in the mornings.
Here are some tips on getting tired teens out of bed for school:
Ban technology in bedrooms
Harsh but necessary! If your teenager has phones, tablets or games consoles in their bedroom, how do you know they aren’t using them late at night? Play it safe and ban phones and devices in their rooms after a certain time at night.
Failing that, you could consider turning off the Wi-Fi and see how long it takes them to get to sleep at a decent hour. It won’t earn you any brownie points, but it will certainly help them get enough sleep!
TV downtime rules
So if your teenager isn’t scrolling through their phone, they may ask for their TV, but you need to have some ground rules in terms of viewing times.
Teenagers could easily stay up late watching TV and as they need at least 8-9 hours sleep a night, it is best to think smart and not let them watch it too late regardless of the arguments.
As above, too many tech devices keep teens awake but if they are chilling on their TV for an hour before their set bedtime, it may not be any harm. See how you go!
Go through the rules early on
From the beginning of September, you need to have a discussion with your teenager and tell them they are going to have to follow the rules. They need to understand that while there are a few hours where they can go on their phone and see their friends, staying up late is simply not an option.
Have a good morning routine
Again, this comes down to a good routine from the start but prepare your teenager for their morning call and tell them they have a five-minute warning. If they can’t get up in the mornings, then you may need to change the lights-out time.
Reward them
Like anything with teenagers, if they feel encouraged and rewarded, they’ll probably play ball a bit more and be less moody about it. So, get them on board with a nice breakfast or if that isn’t possible, think about rewarding them with a few euros for the weekend.
We know that bribing kids isn’t right but sometimes rewards work really well and if it gets them out of bed – great!
