As adults, we all know the effects of a bad night's sleep—fatigue, irritability, difficulty focusing. But what if sleepless nights in childhood have more than short-term consequences? Emerging research suggests that poor childhood sleep can have a significant impact on health, well-being, and cognitive function far into adulthood. Understanding these long-term effects can highlight the importance of establishing healthy sleep habits early.
Insomnia in children can be a perplexing and challenging issue for parents. While occasional restless nights are typical, persistent sleep difficulties can affect a child’s overall health, behavior, and academic performance. Understanding the common causes of insomnia in children is crucial for finding effective solutions and ensuring they get the restorative sleep they need. This blog post explores the various factors that can contribute to insomnia in children and provides tips for managing and improving their sleep.
Sleep is essential for the healthy development of children and teens, yet many young people struggle with sleep issues, ranging from difficulty falling asleep to staying asleep throughout the night. While sleep aids are sometimes considered as a solution, parents and caregivers must approach their use with caution. This blog post explores the safety and effectiveness of sleep aids for children and teens, alternative strategies for improving sleep, and important considerations for parents.
In today's fast-paced world, where screens and technology dominate many aspects of our lives, it's easy to overlook the simple joys of playing outside. Yet, the link between outdoor play and kids' sleep is a crucial one that has far-reaching implications for child development and well-being. In this blog post, we will explore the numerous benefits of outdoor play for children's sleep, backed by scientific research and expert opinions.
Childhood obesity has emerged as a significant public health concern, affecting millions of children worldwide. While factors like diet and physical activity have been extensively studied, an often-overlooked contributor to this epidemic is inadequate sleep. In recent years, research has highlighted a compelling link between sleep patterns and childhood obesity. This blog post aims to explore the intricacies of this connection and shed light on the importance of prioritizing healthy sleep habits for our younger generation.
Quality sleep is vital for your child's functioning and academic success. Sleep deprivation in children can look similar to adults, but it can also differ. Academic performance is going to be one of the main players in how you can recognize when your child is not getting enough sleep.
One way to ensure that your child does get enough sleep is to ensure that when school starts, they are back on track with their sleep schedule. The summer is a looser time without many time commitments or time-restraints. Therefore, parents normally are more relaxed about when their children go to bed and when they wake up.
Transitioning back to school can take some readjustment in many areas of their lives, including a sleep schedule. Continue reading to learn more about how to get your child back on track with their sleep schedule for a good start to the year.
Since the pandemic the rise in melatonin use in children has steadily increased. Pediatricians are seeing more adults giving children melatonin and ever before. This is due to the major sleep disturbances they experienced at the height of the pandemic. However it is becoming more alarming that melatonin use has become an everyday thing instead of a sleep aid to use every once in a while.
Nighttime disturbances in children can be disruptive to a child's daily function and to everyone else in the house. However, it's important to understand that the long-term use of melatonin has not been studied in children. Therefore it is unknown what will happen to children who use melatonin on a daily basis.
Another concern is the risk of melatonin overdose and children. The calls to poison control have risen over the last couple of years due to melatonin overdoses. Part of this is due to the fact that melatonin is packaged and gummies which is very appealing for kids. They think that melatonin is candy and consumer as such. Tablets are less appealing to children and therefore experience less overdosing than the melatonin gummies.
Continue reading to learn more about why overdose of melatonin looks like in children, and what you should do if you suspect that your child has eaten more melatonin and they were intended to.
Children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often struggle with lack of attention and overactivity. Do these problems roll over into sleep? Absolutely. Children with ADHD often struggle with sleep issues from insomnia, to other sleep disorders. It's important to treat sleep problems as this can reduce both sleep disorders, as well as ADHD symptoms. Continue reading to find out more about this connection.
Children with autism may have trouble sleeping, which can be problematic for both them and the family. Many children with autism experience sleeping issues, so it is not an uncommon finding. When children are diagnosed with autism parents should monitor sleeping problems that they can share with their physician. Below is some more information on how sleep and autism go together, and what you can do to help.
Childhood insomnia is not often talked about, but is a very real issue. Signs may not be obvious, unless you have a child overtly acting out, and sleep deprivation is identified as the main issue.
Childhood insomnia is the same as it is in adults where children can't fall asleep, stay asleep, or sleep until the next morning.
Unfortunately identifying childhood insomnia is made difficult because symptoms largely overlap with seemingly normal child and teen behavioral changes:
The difference between childhood insomnia causing such problems and normal childhood development is that one is normal, and one is likely preventable.