<p>As a college student who is on break with a messed up sleep schedule, I’ll explain why it happens to me.</p>
<p>I will start by going to bed around 1am, but then in the morning, I have no reason to get up, so keep sleeping. Unlike other people, I have trouble falling asleep if I am not tired enough. So the next night, after I slept until 11, I cannot go to bed at 1. If I go to bed at 1, I will be there awake until 3. So then I go to bed at 3, and again, have no reason to get up in the morning, so the cycle continues. I would seriously make a full cycle if I let myself, but I am always up by 2. A couple times I have gotten up earlier, but then I end up taking a nap in the evening, which results in me not being able to go to sleep until late, even though I got up earlier.</p>
<p>Maybe I will get back on track this weekend, because I will have a set schedule (I have rehearsal all weekend for something I’m doing over the summer).</p>
<p>There’s just nothing to gain by being up at 9am. I don’t know what time my first class is when school starts (24th), but I assure you I will be up for it, because I will have a reason to be up. Then, my sleep schedule should be back to normal.</p>
<p>Also, it is not that rare for people to sleep until the middle of the afternoon on Saturdays or Sundays during the school year if they go out the night before (until like 3 or 4).</p>
<p>soccerguy, that’s how my kids explain it too and on top of that the jobs they got over break were evenings. So on work days when they didn’t get off until 11pm, they sure weren’t ready for bed until the wee hours.</p>
<p>soccerguy sounds like my kids; the nights get later and later and then they need naps if they get up early! My biggest problem is when my kids get home at night (or morning) they seem to want to talk. Both kids come to our room to tell us goodnight when they come in, but my daughter sometimes is very chatty. Last night she comes to our room to tell me her cell phone is acting weird; this after I have been in bed for an hour. Then my son’s girlfriend called on the kids line which neither kid answered until after I picked up the phone on the third ring. We have caller ID so my son knew it was her and that dad and I were sleeping. To tell you the truth, I an so ready for them to go back just so I can have an uninterrupted night of sleep!! Of course once they leave the cats will still jump in the bed in the middle of the night and I will still need to get up to go to the bathroom at least once, but I should have one or two less interruptions without the kids!!</p>
<p>Well, yeah - you go to bed late you get up late. But, my son is going to bed around 1:00 and if he gets up at noon, that’s 11 hours of sleep! I go to bed around 11:30 and get up at 6:30. It’s not just the schedule that’s amazing, it’s the amount of sleep. On weekends I might go to bed around midnight and sleep to 8, or 8:30. On a positive note, my son does seem to be happier then I have seen him in years and well rested. I’ll take the late sleeping college son over the grumpy, out of sorts high schooler any day.</p>
<p>When D was packing to come home, and discussing how many clothes to bring, I suggested that only pajamas would be fine. I did get her interested in waking up at noon for lunches out with me, Thai, Dimsum, Tandoori, and me paying…</p>
<p>But now she’s gone and I get to eat my ***ppy cooking.</p>
<p>pyewacket I’m so glad you posted this!! I was beginning to think s had been bitten by a tsetse fly !!! </p>
<p>He was an early riser before going off to college but over the holiday he slept until at least noon every day- except on Christmas when we forced him to get up at 10 and have brunch with us. What happened to the days when the kids would be up at 6 on Christmas Day? Sigh, hopefully this nocturnal behavior too will pass.</p>
<p>SHe was an early riser before going off to college but over the holiday She slept until at least noon every day- except on Christmas when we forced hER to get up at 10 and have brunch with us. </p>
<p>Oh, wait. It seems Andi posted something similar. ;)</p>
<p>We were going to Grandma’s after present opening, which is two hours away, so I forced them both to be up by eight. It wasn’t too bad; in some ways, they’re really traditionalists, and our Christmas morning routines are set in stone.</p>
<p>The weird sleeping pattern really bothered me freshman year, but I’ve become more tolerant. Actually, the Chistmas break was better in this regard – but then, DS had spent two weeks in China (13 hours ahead of us!) and was still living on China time. On Christmas, both kids were up by 7:00 to open presents, but both took an afternoon nap!</p>
<p>I’m starting to wonder exactly how I’ll function at school without 14 hours of sleep a day. I know as soon as everything starts though, I’ll force myself out of bed with the help of several cups of coffee and it will all work out.</p>
<p>What I don’t understand is why they all keep this kind of schedule. I don’t think I did when I was in college- but maybe I can’t remember because it was in the last century. Does anyone else remember??</p>
<p>Well as per this discussion, son has just left to go out at 11:06. His parting words were, “I’ll be back early”. I think it’s already too late for that!</p>
<p>I do the same thing. Bed between 3-5 a.m., rise between 1-2 p.m. One of the main reasons I do it is that I like having the house to myself. I can have the computer, t.v., stereo, etc all to myself at once. Plus, once you wake up at 1 a.m. its nearly impossible to fall asleep early. Sometimes when I actually want/need to break the cycle my mom will suggest “well why dont you go to bed at 11 tonight”, without realizing that’d be the equivalent of someone who wakes up at 6 a.m. going to bed at 4 p.m.</p>
<p>what the heck… college freshmen here and nobody i know is getting up later than noon EVER. thats just bizarre. who needs more than 8 hours a night?! (unless you’re making up for a deficit). even if you go to bed at 4 am, getting up at noon gives you a good 8 hours.</p>
<p>The technical term for it according to the sleep study specialists is “Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome.” It is a very common condition for teens & obviously folks in their early 20s as well. It is a real problem when it conflicts with school, work, etc., otherwise, it just drives folks around them a bit nuts.</p>
<p>If the individual wants to try “resetting” their “clock,” they can try several methods, including moving their bedtime later one hour each night until it goes all the way around & is more like everyone else’s. There are also therapeutic bright lights that can be purchased to help with this. During vacation tho, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, as long as everyone remains flexible.</p>
<p>My S has himself the ideal schedule this semester. His 1st class starts at NOON ever day & he’s been doing a LOT better getting to his college classes than he ever was at getting to his HS classes because he is able to go to them later.</p>
<p>Last semester, he was happy because he had classes that started at either 9or 10am, but this semester is even better, even tho he has evening classes every day but Friday!</p>
<p>While hubby and I were watching a game last week, we were snickering that DD (who was napping on the couch) could certainly ace a sleeping class if her college offered it. We are seeing the same thing at our house that many of you are seeing … staying up very late and sleeping very late. One day at 2:00 p.m., I decided that was more than enough sleep, so I made her get up. She dragged down the hall to the bonus room and proceeded to curl up on the couch with a blanket. She said the normal M.O. for her and her friends at school is to get up, go to breakfast, go to class, and return to the dorm for a nap. Such a rough life. ;)</p>
<p>I am amazed with how many times my daughter’s away message will say. “Class at 9:00 them back here for naptime!” Wouldn’t it be nice to get up at 8:00 and go back to sleep two hours later? Like SplashMom’s daughter, mine also goes from her bed to the couch and has the blanket over her head or up to her neck while watching TV. Yesterday she informed me that her class schedule sucks because she can’t watch ER reruns in the morning!! Oh, to be young again :-)</p>
<p>Ok, now I can relax a little. My freshman S has been doing the EXACT same things, including not sleeping in his big double bed in his room. We find him every morning in the playroom, which has a tiny, hard, single bed, but also the TV, which is usually still on.</p>
<p>He says he likes the bed better because it’s like his dorm bed. I think it’s the TV.</p>
and I get to eat my ***ppy cooking.</p>