My teen is addicted to sleep

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, please get him screened for POTS. You are describing many symptoms and including the ADHD like behavior. If he has POTS he NEEDS treatment.

NP here. I’d never heard of POTS so I just googled it. And I’m baffled. How on earth do you get POTS from how OP described her son?

9:08 poster here. I'm not the one who mentioned POTS originally, but I did want to share that my daughter who I referenced in my 9:08 post who sleeps like yours does have POTS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, please get him screened for POTS. You are describing many symptoms and including the ADHD like behavior. If he has POTS he NEEDS treatment.

OP here. I had to look up what you were referring to. I do not see any connection between that and my son needing a lot of sleep. He has ADHD like behavior because he has ADHD. I might ask about a booster so she can get his work done after school instead of crashing right when he gets home. I think he needs a lot of sleep but I don’t think a 4 hour nap after school is good for nighttime sleep.

[Anonymous]

It seems pretty normal for a kid who sleeps 8 hours a night to want more sleep. But a normal teen is not going to go to bed any earlier than 10 pm. Thus, a desire for a nap after school.

My ADHD kid had activities 2 to 3 hours a day, four days a week, but still fit in practicing his instrument, naps and homework. If your kid is wanting to nap before his meds are worn off, it's possible that they are in fact actually worn off and trying to do homework immediately after school is probably torture.

My kid did his HW at the end of his day after he did everything else - he could focus if he knew he was running out of time and had already taken care of everything else he wanted/needed to do after school. Let your kid decide when "homework time" should be.

[Anonymous]

The problem with letting him decide when homework time should be is that he ends up doing his homework after the meds are gone. It’s never a good result. He cannot concentrate well and his studying for tests is ineffective. I’ll talk to his pediatrician next month when he goes. If your kid takes a booster, when do they take it? His school ends at 2:45 which seems to early to take a booster but he is usually at school until 4:30 or so when I can pick him up. Is that too late for a booster? How long does it last?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most humans are addicted to sleep.

He sleeps 10-6 and craves more. Seems normal.

Is he sleeping at other times too?

+1 I don't see the issue. If anything he is getting at the low end of what a kid that age is supposed to get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, please get him screened for POTS. You are describing many symptoms and including the ADHD like behavior. If he has POTS he NEEDS treatment.

OP here. I had to look up what you were referring to. I do not see any connection between that and my son needing a lot of sleep. He has ADHD like behavior because he has ADHD. I might ask about a booster so she can get his work done after school instead of crashing right when he gets home. I think he needs a lot of sleep but I don’t think a 4 hour nap after school is good for nighttime sleep.

One of the main symptoms of POTS is excess sleep. It often presents as ADHD and kids with POTS are usually misdiagnosed with ADHD first. POTS is related to a heart condition. Your child may or may not have it, but the symptoms you are describing are very consistent with POTS.

[Anonymous]

Is this what you are referring to?

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16560-postural-orthostatic-tachycardia-syndrome-pots


He has none of those symptoms.

[Anonymous]

AAP guidelines:

Infants 4 months to 12 months should sleep 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.
Children 1 to 2 years of age should sleep 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.
Children 3 to 5 years of age should sleep 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.
Children 6 to 12 years of age should sleep 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health.
Teenagers 13 to 18 years of age should sleep 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

If he’s not even getting the minimum 8, yes he absolutely needs more. If he’s sleeping over 10 hours (including naps) and still is tired, that’s a clue that something may be wrong, and investing is a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Teens need 9-10 hours of sleep, possibly more if they are going through a big growth spurt. If he's only getting 7ish hours by the time he falls asleep at night, he's going to need to make it up somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Is he depressed?

[Anonymous]

I have sons 14 and 11–they don’t sleep like that. They are not tired after school. They still wake up usual time on the weekends.

What time does your son go to bed?

It sounds like there could be something underlying causing this. Teens are known to be hard to get up in the morning/sleep in on weekends—but the crushing exhaustion after school is not normal (unless he is staying up very late).

[Anonymous]

I am not sure I understand how much he is actually getting. 8 hours per day is normal and also understandable that he's tired. But are you saying he takes a two-three hour nap and then sleeps 8 hours? I don't think sleeping 11 hours per day is normal -- I would be concerned.

[Anonymous]

I think he seems addicted to sleep because he isn’t getting enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think he seems addicted to sleep because he isn’t getting enough.

Which would explain why he wants naps. I do too.

[Anonymous]

If he's taking a four hour nap maybe suggest to him that two hours might work better. This may sound harsh but it's possible he is napping so long and at that time of day to escape from his reality, part of which is that his mom is micromanaging his physiological needs at a time when he needs to learn to manage them himself.