An intimate glimpse inside a silent epidemic that is harming teens and how parents can help them reclaim the restorative power of sleep.

If you could protect your teen from unnecessary anxiety, depression, and chronic stress, and foster a greater sense of happiness and well-being in their life, wouldn’t you? In Generation Sleepless, the authors of the classic guide to helping babies and young children develop healthy sleep habits The Happy Sleeper uncover one of the greatest threats to our teenagers’ physical and mental health: sleep deprivation. Caught in a perfect storm of omnipresent screens, academic overload, night owl biology and early school start times, Generation Sleepless illustrates how our teens are operating in a constant state of sleep debt and "social jet lag" while struggling to meet the demands of adolescence.

In this essential book, Heather Turgeon, MFT and Julie Wright, MFT draw on the latest scientific research to reveal that, at a critical phase of development, many teens need more sleep than their younger siblings, but they're getting drastically less. Generation Sleepless helps readers:
 


  •  foster a teen's self-motivation for sleeping well
  •  alter family practices around phones, social media, and screen time
  •  draw on an understanding of teens' night owl tendencies to create smart sleep habits
  •  lay out steps for sleep-friendly schools and promoting systemic changes that help teens get the rest they need
 
This first-of-its-kind book is packed with clear and instantly usable advice for parents as well as an eye-opening call to action for teachers, principals, colleges, coaches, and policy makers.

An intimate glimpse inside a silent epidemic that is harming teens and how parents can help them reclaim the restorative power of sleep.

If you could protect your child from unnecessary anxiety, depression, and chronic stress, and foster a greater sense of happiness and well-being in their lives, wouldn't you? In this book, the authors of the classic book on helping babies and young children develop healthy sleep habits The Happy Sleeper uncover one of the greatest threats to our teenagers' physical and mental health: sleep deprivation. Caught in a perfect storm of omnipresent screens, academic overload, and unnecessarily early school start times, Generation Sleepless illustrates how our children are operating in a constant state of sleep debt while struggling to meet the demands of adolescence.

In this essential book, Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright draw on the latest scientific research to reveal that today's teenagers are, in fact, the most sleep-deprived population in human history. In fact, at a critical phase of development, many teens need more sleep than their younger siblings-but they're getting drastically less. Generation Sleepless guides families in building healthy habits around sleep by:



establishing family agreements around sleep habits

altering family practices around phones, social media, and screen time

regaining overall equilibrium in the home

remaking bedtime routines



Packed with years of research and in-depth reporting, Generation Sleepless is a wake-up call for parents and equips them with the right tools to start a family conversation about sleep and, ultimately, regain connection with their tweens and teens.

“Well-researched, skillfully written, and deeply helpful. Turgeon and Wright are cultural therapists who teach us how to help teens with the most urgent and important of lessons—how to sleep well. I recommend this book to all parents of tweens and teens.” —Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia
 
“Generation Sleepless is the crucial missing piece in the conversation about teen mental health. As a therapist and the mom of a teenager, I'm so grateful for every page of this book! —Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk To Someone

“In Generation Sleepless, Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright provide an essential guide to supporting the key nutrient for the adolescent brain: sleep. I love this book because it provides a respectful, emotionally attuned, and practical roadmap to helping teenagers get the sleep their bodies and brains so desperately need. I highly encourage everyone who parents or works with teens to read and share this much needed resource!” —Mona Delahooke, PhD, author of Beyond Behaviors and Brain-Body Parenting

“Grounded in a deep understanding of sleep, family dynamics, and social realities, this engaging book seamlessly and creatively integrates practical tips and tools families can use for immediate relief with ways they can work to make the systemic changes—including sleep-friendly school start times—that make healthy sleep possible.” —Terra Ziporyn Snider, PhD, Executive Director and cofounder of Start School Later, and coauthor of The New Harvard Guide to Women’s Health

“Generation Sleepless exposes the myriad of factors that squeeze teen sleep, but more importantly, it gives us a practical framework with to-do’s for society, as well as five easy-to-deploy habits for families that really make a difference.”
—Dr. Michael Breus, author of The Power of When