Children sleep disorders are more common than most individuals may realize. There are several types of sleep disorders that affect children. Sleep disorders include the typical insomnia that can affect both the onset of sleep and its maintenance; parainsomnia which includes influences such as sleepwalking, night terrors, restless leg syndrome and bedwetting; and many others. As you may realize there are numerous sleep disorders that affect children. We will go through the major ones in this article and include treatments for each disorder discussed.
Insomnia is a common children sleep disorder. While this condition may be subjective when there is a lack of sleep or poor quality of restorative sleep there may be severe consequences especially in children. They will be unable to function to their full potential and may suffer from other more serious problems if this condition is left untreated. The purpose of sleep is to recoup energy as such it is important that energy is expended. Therefore one of the first solutions to insomnia is to increase activity such as by regular exercise. Other plant-based aid may be used and as a last resort prescribed medicines to assist in getting sleep when the problem becomes chronic.
Parainsomnias are the most common children sleep disorders. They involve conditions such as sleepwalking, night terrors and bedwetting. Sleep walking is found in as many as 15% of children and often ceases at puberty. This can commonly occur one to three hours after falling asleep and may occur two to three times in the same night. Children tend to wake up with their eyes open and not see anything. Their expression is blank and they walk slowly and clumsily. Many complex tasks are often completed such as eating, drinking and much more. These episodes are not dangerous except in a rare form where the child is in danger of falling.
While absolute prevention of sleepwalking is not possible there is a lot that can be done to minimize risk. Adequate sleep and limited stress are important as are the avoidance of any type of stimuli prior to bedtime. Treatment of other underlying medical conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux, obstructive sleep apnea, seizures, periodic leg movements or restless leg syndrome can cause the sleepwalking episodes to stop.
A part of parainsomnias, night terrors is also a common children sleep disorder. This can occur suddenly with sweating, increases heart rate, rapid breathing and screaming. The child is not roused and falls asleep after a few minutes. Recollection of the attack is not common. Treatment is not necessarily required, except if the child runs the risk of injury. If the child is too anxious prior to sleep then antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication may be required.
Bedwetting can be a terrible problem for a growing child and is classified as a children sleep disorder. If an underlying cause is found treatment directed to it can usually stop the bedwetting but more often than not bedwetting in children has no underlying medical cause. Urgency can be aided with drugs and bladder conditions treated as well as other conditions that cause excessive urine production. Most bedwetting is corrected by working with the child and maintaining their self esteem in the process.
There are many children sleep disorders but it is important to identify if your child has a chronic sleep disorder condition and to seek professional assistance if the condition shows no improvement.
