Parenting Teenagers Support Group

My daughter is 13 year's old and in the 7th grade. Should teens be allowed to make their own bedtime hours so long as they are getting up in the morning for school and doing well in school?

I think as the teenage years approach, our kids will naturally want to stay up later and later. I have a more difficult time getting all the electronics (cell phones, video games, laptops, etc.) away from my kids so I have a rule that at 9:30 all electronics have to go off and they must be in bed by 10. This does not always work as smooth as I would like it to but it has helped. I think we have to show our kids that we know how important sleep is.

If your teen is asking for a later bedtime and you are considering it, see why she wants to stay up later and talk about how that may or may not affect her sleep. You may want to start by allowing her to stay up 15 minutes later than usual and increase it to 30 if after a week she has been able to maintain her grades, waking up on time, etc.

Good luck. These are some of the toughest years I have faced.

Mom of 3 (ages 16, 15 & 12)

Hi Yanne:

Sounds like solid advice. Thus far my daughter is not staying up as late as I thought she would. She seems to be handling this whole bedtime issue quite well. I'll just have to give it some more time and see what develops.

Thanks for replying!