NURSING NOTES
NO. 01
SEPTEMBER 2026
Sleep
It is a few weeks into school. Every morning it is the same routine. You wake up earlier than you ever thought you needed to, and then go in to your teen’s room 2, 3, 4 times to wake them up. Their alarm is blaring because they have either slept through it or ignored it. The bus is coming in 30 min and you know that there is at least a 25 min skin and hair routine that needs to happen for them ( their choice not yours ). They are anxious and cranky, you are anxious and frustrated, and your coffee that you made when this process started is getting cold. You stomp down the stairs trying to figure out why this happens every morning and wondering if it is time to call the doctor. My answer will always be, if you think you should call the doctor, do. Even if it is not something that requires an appointment, your doctor should be informed of your concerns.
Both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy on Sleep Medicine recommend teens get 10 hours of sleep every day. Think of a typical teenage girl during the school year. If they are into skin and haircare routines, they may be up 1-2 hours before they need to leave. Others, will roll out of bed and just make it on the bus. Either way, they spend the day at school, come home,and do homework and then off to sports. Some don’t even come home first, just straight into activites. Once they are in high school, these activities get later and later. They are getting home at 9pm, sometimes later. They are hungry, sweaty, and probably still have some homework to finish. They get to bed around 11 and are waking up at 5. And all of that is not factoring in the extra time they may be scrolling on their phones “to wind down”. What happens ? A day off, or a weekend, or a vacation comes and they ( and you are walking zombies) . You after all are probably waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or just because your cortisol is spiking and your body is telling you 3am is a good time to be awake and worry about everything that has happened in the past 5 years.
Where are the phones sleeping?
A 2026 study showed that teens who use their phones for 20 min before bedtime , would then use their phones late night for an additional 8-9 min. This may not seem like a lot, but having the brain stimulated that late at night makes it harder to settle and harder to wake up. Another study showed that teens who got a phone before age 13 showed insufficient sleep at 14 . Now let’s look at you. You are waking up during the night , sometimes falling back to sleep, sometimes not.If your teens are old enough to drive and they are not home yet before you go to bed, you are tracking them. I get it. If not checking where your child is is going to make you more anxious and not sleep, then do it. Better yet, have them text you when they arrive to their destination or home. If possible, when everyone is under the same roof, try and stay off the phone for at least an hour before going to sleep. I started keeping my phone across the room , and remind my kids to do the same, to help with the middle of the night scrolls.
What’s trending now?
There is something called Sleepmaxxing that is all over social media right now. Content creators are telling us the following things to get “ the best possible sleep”
- cold dark rooms
- magnesium
-mouth taping
- eating kiwi before bed
I am going to start with my biggest red flag or red stop sign, and then I will explain what I do an you can see if it works for you. Please do not tape your mouth because you have watched something on the internet. This has no scientific basis, and in fact, if there is underlying undiagnosed sleep issues, could be very harmful. I am not giving any supplement recommendations here for you or your teen. What may work for me , may not for you, so you should always discuss with your doctor. As far as everything else on the list and the sleep trackers, my thoughts are if it helps you be more calm and get a better night’s sleep, great. If , it is going to be one thing you are worrying that you are doing wrong or worse worrying about yourself and your teen, let’s make it easier.
What I do believe in:
Sleep hygiene. A cool dark room, quiet, peaceful, relaxing. In my house, phones are across the room with blue light lowered. No screens ( tv, laptop, phone) for one hour. I love to brain dump before bed. This is not the time to fix all the problems of the day, just get them out of your head and on paper. I find the nights I do this, I sleep much better. For my girls, I noticed they are sleeping better when it is cool and dark as well. Sometimes white noise helps. I do limit caffeine to the morning and rarely drink alcohol anymore and when I do it is several hours before I sleep.
When is sleep an issue:
If you or teen has had any of the following, it is time to call the doctor and have a discussion:
Significant mood or behavior changes
Daytime sleepiness
Any associated symptoms like dizziness
Needing to miss activities because of excessive fatigue
Snoring, gasping, pauses in breathing while sleeping
When you call, be ready to discuss what time you or she goes to bed versus falling asleep ( do you lay awake for hours), wake up time, any supplements you are taking, any electronic, caffeine or alcohol use. This will help streamline the visit when you have these answers ready.
As always, I would love to hear from you. My inbox is open for your questions!
NURSING NOTES
NO. 02
OCTOBER 2026
Back to School Germs are here!
We are only a few weeks into school. You hear the door open and hear it…the cough…then the sneeze…and all you think is “Here we F*&% go again!” It seems like last cold season just ended and everyone was continuously sick. I get it.
Not to mention, you are trying to hold it all together and if mom gets sick, it all goes off the rails very quickly.
This time of year, especially in New England, can be tricky. There can be leftover allergens blooming if we get a random warm patch, strep throat, early flu and all kinds of other viruses.
Some can come with fever, some come with rashes, none of them are welcome.
Suddenly your entire feed is filled with “immunity boosters”, supplements that will prevent all those viruses in your house. One of these is high dosing Vitamin C. There is no proven research that high doses of Vitamin C will prevent or even reduce symptoms of the common cold. In fact, high doses of Vitamin C can cause nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramps, and in rare cases, kidney stones. My thought is always too much of anything is never a good thing, and simple is best.
Save your money and lets stick to the basics:
1. Handwashing with soap and water. This is especially important for any stomach bugs as they are not killed with hand sanitizer.
2. Drinking fluids. Water is best, but if you are sick and not eating, make sure you have something with electrolytes so you do not get depleted.
3. Steamy showers/ humidified air- this is when those hour long “everything showers” that your teen is doing will come in handy.
4. Sleep - if you are feeling sick, or your teen is, take this opportunity to catch up on your much needed sleep.
5. Honey - for anyone over 12 mos of age, honey is a great alternative for coughs and to sooth scratchy throats.
For most healthy teens and adults, a cold will improve in a few days.
A couple things to keep in mind:
Just because you are blowing green junk out of your nose, does not mean you need antibiotics
Coughs can linger for up to 2 weeks, sometimes longer, as long as they are improving
A sore throat does not always mean strep throat
When to call the doctor:
1. Any breathing difficulty
2. If you need to miss school or work for 3 or more days
3. Extreme lethargy (can’t get up to walk to the bathroom), can’t stay awake
4. Fevers that are not responding to fever reducing medication or lasting more than 4 days
Anytime you have a question, call. There is a good chance what you think is unusual, we may have already talked to a few people with similar symptoms and can tell you if there is something going around.
These tips are for otherwise healthy individuals and not personalized health advice. If you have any underlying conditions, speak with your doctor.