Hi, I have a teenager that is getting his days and nights mixed up, and I wonder if any of the other parents are experiencing this.
He's going on 17, is a computer whiz, (has created his own program on the computer) but is driving me crazy. I have to get up and be at work at 6:30, he's wide awake, and says he has been all night. Geez, I know he's a pretty good kid, and there's no warning signs, so I think he's not doing anything bad on the internet, at least I hope. But worries me is that when school begins, he'll have a really hard time starting to wake up in the morning. Just wanted to know if anyone else has this problem with thier kids.

I’ve known quite a few teens that share your son’s situation. You may find my suggestion challenging for both you and your son. What I suggest he do is set his alarm so that he rises 15 minutes earlier than the previous day. This will help to move his sleep cycle back. One he is sleeping at the necessary time, he will need to stick with the set sleeping schedule even for weekends and holidays. You don’t want him to have a relapse in his sleep schedule.

I go for the put you foot down method. This is a common thing for kids to want to stay up way too late on summer vacation. When is bedtime you feel is reasonable for him given his age? I think you better figure that out and mean it.

Once you figure out a time that you feel is age appropriate, send him to bed. End of story. If he gets back up complaining, which he will, you send him right back to bed. No excuses. Who is running the house anyway? Get him up in the morning at an appropriate time that he should be up. Let him get something to eat and quickly give him chores to do. If you let him sit around, he wont perk up too easy.

Keep doing it until he is tired when he should be. Don't tolerate any complaining. Tell him to rest and shut his eyes if he can't sleep, but it is past his bedtime. You are an adult. You have earned the right to stay up past bedtime. Kids, no way. Tell him to go to bed and get his butt up in the morning and give him things to do that require activity to wake him up.

Problem solved.

I agree with Wildflower, put down the foot. So long as he is living under your roof he ought to be living by your rules and that means sleeping at night, waking during the day.
If you are concerned about his internet activities, contact your internet service provider about blocks and guards and parental controls.

When I was a teenager and my mother worked it was "Lights out at 11pm...be in bed, teeth brushed, and ready to go to sleep...no exceptions" And heaven forbid if the phone should ring!

My point being, the parent is the one to take control of the situation. Do what needs to be done in order to enforce night-time rules. Let him know that there needs to be a change in his night routine. If he doesn't change, then take away the computer. It really upsets me to see so many people (or all ages) dependent on a computer. I think everyone needs to have limitations. Let him have a set amount of hours that he can piddle away with his computer programming...and then tell him to move on to something else.

Hope my suggestions help you some.

My sons also want to stay up late (I know they are young, but the problem still exists). Bed time is bed time. The lights are out, and they are ready for bed (teeth brushed, PJ's etc). If they are awake, they are bored.

I've read the suggestions made by the other people here and frankly i think they aren't the answer. I mean first of all I don't see how u can put your foot down in the ways the other people said because you said you have to get up to go to WORK. I think the best solution for your problem is let your kid do what he wants but when school starts up you get him up and don't give him any slack whatsoever.

The Great Meddler, (like the name!) This occurs each summer, and usually it happens just as you say, I have to wake him up in the morning when he starts school, usually by calling home several times before he answers or my mate wakes him up. I think he is a hard person to wake in the morning anyways, but so am I, lol. The reason I want him to get in a habit of getting up in the morning on time is because eventually he will have to be working, and mom's not going to always be there to wake him. His boss will not take the excuse "Oh I overslept" He'll be fired.

I disagree, Meddler. Soaringhorse certainly can put her foot down. She can make sure he goes to bed at night. If he goes to bed at a reasonable hour, it will be less harsh for him to have to get up at a reasonable time.
Bedtime is bedtime.
If what a parent deems is best is in conflict with what the kid wants, the parent's wishes overrule those of the kid. Whose house is it, anyway?

My 17 year old does/did the same thing. It started in after xmas. We had a hard time getting him up in the mornings, thinking after sleeping all day and staying up all night on the weekends, he was just tired. During this summer it was fine, but we finally insisted on him getting a job, but thatr didn't work out either(hoping making money would work). Finally we had to take him to the doctor to see if it was depression or something. It turned out that most males (60%) between the age of 17-21 is affested with this sleep disorder. Rozerem is the only prescription sleep aid that works with your body's internal clock to promote sleep for people who get their days and nights mixed(kind of like jetlag). It is not for insomnia. Well guess what? It worked. two weeks before school started-taken at 11pm, asleep in 30mins.,getting up at 11am.The getting up at 10am, then 9am and finally by 6am. I would ask your doctor about giving him Rozerem. He will take it for seveeral months. Good Luck!