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Toddler Sleep Disorder: is your toddler a problem sleeper?

June 20th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

You know the situation—it’s the middle of the night, and you’ve been sound asleep for several hours. Suddenly, you hear a little voice say, “Mommy, can I come into bed with you?” You sigh, roll over, and make space for your toddler to climb into the bed in between you and your spouse. Normal toddler behavior, right? Perhaps so.

But maybe your toddler could be suffering from a toddler sleep disorder-one of many sleep disorders that most commonly afflicts toddlers and young children. Oh, great, you may be thinking. I’ve just stopped worrying about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and now I have to worry about a toddler sleep disorder? Well, the good news is that you shouldn’t worry too much. Only about 10 per cent of toddlers are actually afflicted by a toddler sleep disorder.

In fact, it is common for toddlers to have trouble sleeping during the night, especially if they are plagued by frequent ear infections. Boys are generally more likely than girls to have trouble sleeping, because they are more susceptible to other disorders like hyperactivity and Attention Deficit Disorder that can affect sleeping habits. However, despite the low risk factor that your toddler could have a toddler sleep disorder, it is important to be aware of the possibilities and seek treatment if necessary.

Common Sleep Disorders Found in Toddlers

There are some sleep disorders that, while they can affect anyone, are most commonly found in toddlers. These toddler sleep disorders include: sleep apnea, sleepwalking, night terrors, head banging, and rocking. Common symptoms of a toddler sleep disorder are: snoring, breathing noisily, breathing through the mouth, coughing or choking throughout the night, excessive sweating, confusion when waking up during the night, rocking or head banging when falling asleep, looking scared when waking up in the middle of the night, kicking, or sleepwalking.

One of the main ways that you can help your child get the right amount of sleep is by establishing a stable bedtime routine and sleep schedule. Also, if you suspect that your child has a toddler sleep disorder, you should contact your child’s doctor immediately. Remember, it is not uncommon for toddlers to have trouble sleeping. However, many sleep disorders are genetic and can be passed down to toddlers and children from their parents. If this is the case, it is important to diagnose the sleep disorder as early as possible in order to begin treatment as soon as possible.

Solving Your Child’s Sleep Problems

June 13th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Solving your child’s sleep problems can be tricky because several problems can come up with your child’s sleep, including sleep deprivation, sleepwalking, sleep associations, separation issues, settling problems and parasomnias.

Sleep deprivation occurs when you child does not get enough sleep, which could lead to serious physical and emotional problems. Sleepwalking, on the other hand, occurs when children sleep lightly and unconsciously walks around in the middle of the night. Sleepwalking is not harmful, unless it becomes a nightly routine. Parasomnias are disruptive problems of sleep, which are not considered serious, that include night terrors and teeth grinding.

One of the most common problems of parents is that they cannot get their child back to sleep. This happens when parents have not introduced sleep associations to their child, which can help him or her to sleep alone without being rocked, sucking a pacifier, drinking a bottler of milk or with the parents by his side. Solving your child’s sleep problems depend largely on how well you incorporated sleep associations into your child’s bedtime routine.

Surefire Ways of Solving Your Child’s Sleep Problems

One of the most traditional tips in solving your child’s sleep problems is to sleep when your baby sleeps. This is important because you are introducing the baby into a new routine that he or she will follow every day.

Establish a bedtime routine when your baby is at three to five months of age. This routine may include last feeding or nursing, bedtime story, singing, diaper changing, last bath or other practices that can make your baby go to sleep. You need to teach your baby to associate nighttime with sleeping by giving him or her objects (blankets or toys) that can symbolize “his time to sleep”.

Solving your child’s sleep problems will take time because you need to teach them every detail for them to sleep alone, without sleepwalking, experiencing nightmares, grinding their teeth and without separation issues. Be patient in supporting your child as he or she gets used to the bedtime routine. Remember that your child will eventually outgrow these sleep problems with your guidance and reassurance.

However, if you tried every method in solving your child’s sleep problems, your child may be experiencing hunger, heat or cold, bloating, cold or stuffy nose, temperature, ear infection, head banging or body rocking, soiled nappy, noisy or quiet environment and lost sleeping aids, such as stuffed toy, pacifier or blanket. Some sleep problems, especially those that continue to persist, may need medical attention.

Symptoms of Sleep Disorders in Children Often Differ to Those of Adults

April 14th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

The symptoms of sleep disorders in children are sometimes different to those of adults and parents and caregivers need to be aware of this. Children naturally fear the dark, which helps to worsen sleep disorders in them. Fearing the dark can lead to the onset of a nightmare which can, in turn, intensify and night terrors result when the child awakens abruptly and screams to escape a terrifying dream that he or she will not be able to remember later on.

Different Sleep Disorders Including Sleepwalking and Bruxism

Another common sleep disorder in children is sleepwalking or somnambulism, which is harmless if special care is taken by parents to provide them with a safe environment. Children may also often talk in their sleep or sleep with open eyes, and strange as these disorders are, will not do the child any harm, most of the time.

Sleep disorders in children may also take the form of Bruxism or grinding and gnashing the teeth while they are asleep, which is a very disturbing disorder that can also lead to dental problems. Children are also often known to bang their heads or roll their heads, which happens most when they are about to fall asleep. This is another harmless sleep disorder that they will soon outgrow, before becoming adolescents.

However, heartburn is a dangerous as well as common sleep disorder in children that also affects adults as well. The danger to the child arises when his or her stomach acids regurgitates into the throat, which can be due to an underlying medical problem. Children are also known to suffer from periodic limb movement as well as restless leg syndrome that are both very disturbing to the child as well as to parents. This condition can also lead to sleepwalking, insomnia as well as nightmares.

Other sleep disorders in children include nocturnal asthma/nocturnal seizures that are often quite frightening as well as stressful for all concerned, including the child and parents, and should require medical supervision for getting it under control. Also, sleep apnea can attack adults as well as children, including premature newborns and also, the elderly.

A number of the above-mentioned problems can lead to Apparent Life Threatening Event (ALTE) which causes the child to lose color as well as becomes limp. In such a sleep disorder, it often becomes very difficult to awaken the child who becomes quite listless on being awoken, which can terrify parents no end. Probably the most frightening and dreaded sleep disorder in children is SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome of which not much is known, and there are also not many treatments available for this condition. It is known, however, that many children lose their lives as a result of SIDS each year.

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