School starts in three weeks for most Tampa Bay area students, and Tiffany Rebstock dreads the return of early-morning wakeup madness with her 12-year-old twins.

Daughter Gabi is difficult, but she moves eventually. Son Daniel, however, struggles to sleep through the night, making him "a monster in the morning."

The house alarm and the big family dog bouncing on Daniel's bed sometimes work to get them up and out of their Pasco County home by 8 a.m. At one point last year, the twins bathed and dressed for school at night, and slept in their clothes so they could get to their Land O' Lakes school on time.

"If I stopped (moving) for a minute, I would probably pass out on the floor," Daniel says of his inability to get up and get going.

At her wit's end, and knowing the morning hassle has more serious implications now that her son is getting older, Rebstock took Daniel to a sleep disorder specialist this summer.

Sleep experts agree that the perennial wakeup battle is about far more than moody teenagers. Hormone-heavy bodies, weary from the day-to-day work of developing, compete with the urge to stay awake and be social, which messes with the body clock. The result is that just 20 percent of adolescents get the optimal nine hours of sleep each night, the National Sleep Foundation says.

Compounding the problem are super-early school start times at local middle and high schools. Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas each include dozens of schools starting between an alarm clock-imperiling 7:05 and 8 a.m.

"When you should be falling asleep in the evening, you're keeping yourself up" playing games or socializing, says Dr. Danny Abbruzzeseof OaksteadMedical Center in Land O' Lakes, where Daniel goes for treatment. "Then you are forcing the body to do things it doesn't normally want to do ... shifting the whole sleep-wake cycle."

A recent study at a Rhode Island boarding school found teens with just 30 extra minutes to start the school day were more alert and on time to class, had better moods and even ate healthier breakfasts.

Those 30 minutes help because teens tend to be in their deepest sleep around dawn, say results published in July's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Interrupting that sleep to get up for school can leave the teen groggy, especially since they also tend to have trouble falling asleep before 11 p.m., researchers say.

Hitting the sack early enough to deal with a 7 a.m. school start time is nearly impossible in a "hyper-aroused" late-night state, says Matthew Edlund, a Sarasota physician and author of "The Power of Rest" ($25.99, Harper One).

"Kids need a lot of time for rest, and they don't want to give it up at all," says Edlund, who also operates www.therestdoctor.com.

The pull to stay up late and sleep all morning is most obvious right now, as teens transition from summer vacation to another school year. In the summer, their high-tech habit - multitasking with computers, cell phones, TVs and video games - and their love for caffeinated sodas and energy drinks isn't a problem.

Shifting to an early morning wakeup call takes weeks to accomplish, says Dr. Mac Anderson, medical director of the sleep disorder center at Tampa General Hospital and a University of South Florida physician. Younger children don't have the same challenge.

"The teens get punished. Their biological clock doesn't want to get up, and the younger kids are up and ready to go," Anderson says.

The key to adjusting a sleep schedule is routine. Teens should be winding down at least an hour before lights out, and bedrooms should be cool and dark with no TV, computer or cell phones to distract.

Waking up at the same time every day, in a bright environment is best. Anderson says light exercise like a dip in the pool is an effective and enjoyable way to get the body going.

Chronic sleep deprivation carries a serious consequence: academic and behavior problems, from sleeping in school to unsafe driving. Tiffany Rebstock says it's a hassle for kids and adults.

"It affects every part of their life: their mental ability, their demeanor, their eating," she says. "I don't think there is one aspect of their life that a good night's sleep doesn't affect.

"I know when I don't have enough sleep and have to come to work the next day, I'm foggy. I'm not on the top of my game," she says.

Behavioral changes, such as setting a regular bed time can handle most of the problems, said Dr. Khalid Saeed, a sleep specialist at Oakstead Medical. Some may need treatment for conditions such as allergies, sleep apnea, enlarged tonsils or restless leg syndrome.

Edlund says teenagers aren't encouraged to value sleep; many American adults see sleep as a passive, lazy use of time. He suggests that parents change their approach, starting with a kinder, gentler wakeup.

"We trained our bodies to work and relate to machines, and we now act like machines. ... Why not wake up with the pleasure of a new day?"

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