Are your teens tired all the time?

[Anonymous]

Check for B12 & iron levels. I had very low levels for both as a teen and starting the right supplements ( and weekly B12 injections ) was life changing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure they go to bed, but are they up until midnight on their phones?

Op here…we have all of our kids leave their phones in the kitchen at night. My dh stays up late so pretty sure she isn’t sneaking out to be on her phone.

Impressed by your responsible parenting. Great job mom! (phone use is a major cause of sleep deprivation for most teens).

Agree with others; likely a deficiency. Top candidates would be iron (girls), vitamin D3, or possibly B vitamins (only take with food or your teen will be nauseous).

[Anonymous]

I specifically remember taking a nap around my teenage years around 5 pm when I got home for 90 mins. Then I'd eat dinner and be up till 10:30/11, but I needed those naps so badly...

[Anonymous]

Does your child eat a lot of candy? Or might you not know they do? My kids think candy is something to be eaten daily, which I believe contributes to their extreme lack of energy sometimes. I think there is a lot of candy eating in schools, plus chips and soda. It might be something to look into.

[Anonymous]

My 16 yo DD is tired a lot too.

With the exception of her two sports practice nights, where we aren't getting home until 10:45pm, she gets good sleep.

The pediatrician tested her iron levels, and they were fine.

She eats plenty of meat, other sources of protein, has a good healthy diet. Certainly better than mine at that age.

But I do think a lot of it is a rigorous school curriculum, pending SATs, thinking about colleges, applying for summer jobs, all of those things kids are trying to wrap their heads around as they navigate approaching adulthood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 16 yo DD is tired a lot too.

With the exception of her two sports practice nights, where we aren't getting home until 10:45pm, she gets good sleep.

The pediatrician tested her iron levels, and they were fine.

She eats plenty of meat, other sources of protein, has a good healthy diet. Certainly better than mine at that age.

But I do think a lot of it is a rigorous school curriculum, pending SATs, thinking about colleges, applying for summer jobs, all of those things kids are trying to wrap their heads around as they navigate approaching adulthood.

Agree. The amount of crap they have to do is exhausting. No wonder they’re tired and crash after school.

[Anonymous]

My DS was tired at age 15, would take naps after school, and sometimes skipped practices when he was just too tired. He was growing a lot and my dad told me he was the same way at that age, so I let it slide.

Now at 16 he is a completely different person. Rarely naps and has plenty enough energy for practices, bike riding, and then some.

Thankfully he doesn’t seem interested in staying up very late in spite of all my fears about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check for B12 & iron levels. I had very low levels for both as a teen and starting the right supplements ( and weekly B12 injections ) was life changing.

I just had these checked for my sleepy teen. B12 was a little low and D was extremely low so its definitely worth checking out.