Sleeping disorders are one of disorders that always associated with adults. This is because most sleeping disorders are caused by work, love life, stress or financial problems that are far remove from the world of a child.
In reality, sleeping disorders in children is pretty common as many childrenand sometimes even babies are also experience sleeping difficulties . Especially with toddlers, it is difficult to see whether their sleep in because they don’t have to go to school yet or because of something else. Unfortunately, sleeping disorders in children if left untreated can hinder their growth process and may create complications later on in their life.
Sleeping is one of the most important process in children life. It is very important for optimum brain development. This is because 75 percent of growth hormone are released at night when children are sleeping. This hormones encourages muscles, nerves, tissues as well as bones development. This hormones also repair and replace damaged cells including brain cells.
Young children normally have irregular sleeping pattern. They can wake up in the middle of the night and can go back to sleep with ease and do not depend on the time of the day. The required sleeping time for children vary in accordance with their age.
Normal sleeping time for children are:
- 1 to 4 moths requires 14.5 to 15.5 hours of sleep a day
- 4 to 12 moths requires 14 to 15 hours of sleep a day
- 1 to 3 years requires 12 to 14 hours of sleep a day
- 3 to 6 years requires 10.5 to 12 hours of sleep a day
- 7 to 12 years requires 10 to 11 hours of sleep a day
- 12 to 18 years requires 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep a day
Sleeping Disorders in Children
With some children however, their sleeping pattern is more irregulars and sometimes when they wake up in the middle of the night they can’t go back to sleep. Crying is usually one of the sign they don’t get enough sleeping time and their body wanting to go back to sleep but unable to do so.
Sleeping disorders in children are usually not insomnia as often experienced by adults. As children do not yet experience life burden like adults, it is more likely a sign of chronic disorders such as asthma, lack of body regulation, lack of concentration, hyperactivity and other disorders.
As a parents you need to identify the source of the problem and act accordingly.
The cause of sleeping disorders in children:
- Physical problems such as colic, digestive or respiratory problems.
- Uncomfortable feeling such as anxiety, fear or anger
- Younger children also needs frequent nourishment and get hungry easily which will interfere with their sleeping time.
Other than inhibit growth, sleeping disorders in children can also decrease their natural immune systems making them easy to fall ill, prone to tantrum and emotional outburst, as well as hard to concentrate and memory functions problems.
Tips you can try to get your children to sleep well
- Try to create a nice atmosphere in their sleeping room. Put on some music or dim the light to help the process.
- Don’t make a habit of putting them to sleep in your hand. Try to put them down on their cradle before they are asleep.
- Don’t use sleep as a punishment as it will make them unconsciously hate sleeping.
- Don’t create a particular routine to take them to sleep. If for some reason you can’t do that routine, your children will have problem sleeping.
If the above tips doesn’t work then you should see a trained medical professional to see if there is something wrong with your children that prevent them from sleeping properly as sleeping disorders in children could be a sign of something wrong.
