Childhood Insomnia
Johnny Won't Go To Sleep
Stephens, Betsy, “Solutions for Kids’ Sleep Prob-
lems”, Parents.com, https://www.parents.com/
toddlers-preschoolers/sleep/issues/solutions-for-
kids-sleep-problems/
Iannelli, Vincent, “Childhood Insomnia Causes and
Treatment”, VeryWell Family, https://www.very-
wellfamily.com/insomnia-and-children-2634255
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bedtime routine, even on weekends
and holidays, and stop stimulating
activities, such as screens of any kind,
thirty to sixty minutes before bedtime.
Make your child’s bedtime routine a
little boring by reading books that are
a little too young for him or that he
knows by heart. Using “bedtime passes”
is especially helpful for kids who use
delaying tactics or who get up in the
middle of the night. Give your child two
passes to get up for a drink, a hug, or
a bathroom visit after lights out. Praise
him when he uses the passes, but put
him back in his bed with little emotion
if he gets up without it. Unused passes
can be traded in for a reward the next
day to give him extra incentive.
Whether you need to make some
behavioral changes, treat a medical
issue, or find a psychologist to help
with your child’s insomnia, the key
to success for all of these approaches
is consistency. As long as parents are
committed to their pediatrician’s advice,
and they place high value on their kids’
sleeping habits, they’re on their way to
sounder sleep and healthier children.
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We live in a non-stop world where chil-
dren are overscheduled with afterschool
activities and tons of homework, which
causes bedtimes to be pushed back later
and later. If there’s too much going on
right before bedtime, children get over-
stimulated and can’t fall asleep, leading
to the delaying tactics they often employ.
Parents who work all day may be fine
pushing back bedtimes or prolonging
bedtime routines in order to spend
time with their kids. Unfortunately,
this usually leads to children becoming
overly reliant on their parents to fall
asleep, so that when they wake up in
the middle of the night they struggle to
go back to sleep by themselves. Anxiety,
stress, or depression can also trigger
insomnia. Something like a big move, a
switch from pre-school to kindergarten,
or trouble with friends at school, can
lead to sleeplessness.
Sometimes insomnia is a sign of an
underlying medical condition, such
as sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome,
or narcolepsy. All of these can cause
fragmented sleep, where kids wake up
several times a night for ten to twenty
minutes or more. Allergies, such as hay
fever, and conditions like eczema and
asthma, have also been shown to lead
to sleeplessness due to the discomfort
they cause. The medications to treat
allergies have been known to cause
insomnia in children too. Unless it’s
approved by a pediatrician, it’s best to
avoid using prescription medications
to treat insomnia. If the root of your
child’s insomnia is something medical
or psychological, sleeping pills will only
mask the problem, not solve it.
If your child is experiencing sleep
problems for more than a few days,
it’s important to consult a pediatrician
right away to figure out what’s going on.
However, a few general tips that help
with insomnia are to keep a consistent
T
he three a.m. visits, the requests
for an extra bedtime story or a
glass of water. Chances are you’ve
dealt with at least one of these with
your kids. Many parents chalk sleep
troubles up to a normal phase kids go
through, and while every child will
experience insomnia at some point, too
many restless nights might be a sign of
something serious. When it comes to
sleep troubles, tackling the issue sooner
is better than later.
There are many differing opinions
about what classifies as childhood
insomnia, but most pediatric sleep
specialists agree that it is generally
considered insomnia when the sleep
issues cause problems during waking
hours. Symptoms of insomnia can
include irritability, mood swings, hyper-
activity—which often gets misdiagnosed
as ADHD— aggression, decreased
attention span, or memory problems.
Toddlers need between twelve
and fourteen hours of sleep, and
pre-schoolers need around eleven to
thirteen hours. If they constantly get
less than this, they can experience a
drop in IQ that is similar to a child who
has lead poisoning. If the sleep deficit
persists for too long, children’s brains
start to lose the capability to form the
connections needed for retaining new
knowledge, memories, and skills, at a
time when they need these skills the
most. Since sleep also plays an integral
role in metabolic functions, frequent
sleep disruptions can increase the risk
of obesity and cardiovascular troubles
as well. The longer kids experience
insomnia, the more their brains adapt to
enduring sleeplessness, until eventually
their bodies consider it a normal way of
functioning.
Childhood insomnia can be caused
by a wide variety of things. More often
than not, the root of it is behavioral.
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