There’s tired, and then there’s sleepy. For me, if I’m not sleepy, there’s about a 5% chance I will be able to fall asleep upon going to bed. I remember plenty of nights in high school going to bed “early” around 10pm, and sure enough I’m still awake at 2am. So first off there’s ability to sleep when needed.
Second, the modern perspective contains a lot of blue light in daily lives that prevents melatonin secretion. Few kids have the self control and presence of mind to properly regulate their screen time at night, even if just from TV, not to mention phones.
Realistically just with the second point, the cards are stacked against them.
The parents and their sleep hygiene play a huge role in this. My parents always went to bed around 22h30 and I had my bedtime routine as well. Sleep hygiene was taught to me from a very young age. Turn off screens, brush my teeth, go into bed, read a bit or play with my plush animals. I always slept within minutes.
Structure and consistency is so important to a healthy sleep schedule. Now I can sleep at any time virtually anywhere. It’s awesome
just to chime in, I have the polar opposite of your experience and still can zonk out in 5 mins any time I like. The only consistent thing is that I get a minimum of 6 hours of sleep a night, but my smartwatch still gives me sleep ratings in the high 80s and low 90s almost every night. No idea if this is in any way scientific but people on Reddit seem to value it.
I also am registered as having the stress of a puddle, similarly.
For most people, I think it is more to do with genetics rather than any real habits. I think all you really need to do is make your bedroom completely dark and slightly cold, and exercise a couple of times a week.
There’s tired, and then there’s sleepy. For me, if I’m not sleepy, there’s about a 5% chance I will be able to fall asleep upon going to bed. I remember plenty of nights in high school going to bed “early” around 10pm, and sure enough I’m still awake at 2am. So first off there’s ability to sleep when needed.
Second, the modern perspective contains a lot of blue light in daily lives that prevents melatonin secretion. Few kids have the self control and presence of mind to properly regulate their screen time at night, even if just from TV, not to mention phones.
Realistically just with the second point, the cards are stacked against them.
The parents and their sleep hygiene play a huge role in this. My parents always went to bed around 22h30 and I had my bedtime routine as well. Sleep hygiene was taught to me from a very young age. Turn off screens, brush my teeth, go into bed, read a bit or play with my plush animals. I always slept within minutes.
Structure and consistency is so important to a healthy sleep schedule. Now I can sleep at any time virtually anywhere. It’s awesome
just to chime in, I have the polar opposite of your experience and still can zonk out in 5 mins any time I like. The only consistent thing is that I get a minimum of 6 hours of sleep a night, but my smartwatch still gives me sleep ratings in the high 80s and low 90s almost every night. No idea if this is in any way scientific but people on Reddit seem to value it.
I also am registered as having the stress of a puddle, similarly.
For most people, I think it is more to do with genetics rather than any real habits. I think all you really need to do is make your bedroom completely dark and slightly cold, and exercise a couple of times a week.