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Sleep disorder in the child
Last reviewed: 02.05.2024
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Sleep behavior is socially determined, and problems can be defined as deviations from common habits or norms. In a society in which it is customary for children to sleep separately from their parents in the same home, sleep problems are among the most common problems parents and children face. Usually the child gets used to the regime of day-night sleep between 4 and 6 months.
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Causes of sleep disorders in a child
Sleep disorders in a child after this age take different forms, including the difficulty of falling asleep at night, frequent nocturnal awakenings, atypical drowsiness during the day, dependence on feeding or staying on hands in order to fall asleep. These problems are related to the expectations of the parents, the child's temperament and biological rhythms, as well as the child-parent interaction. Congenital biological patterns play a determining role in children of the first year of life, while emotional factors and established habits come to the fore in older children. In addition to the above, sleep disorders become common at the age of 9 months and again - about 18 months, when there is a fear of separation from parents and fear of outsiders, the increasing ability of the child to move independently and control their surroundings, a long afternoon nap, stimulating games before bed.
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Who to contact?
What if the child has a sleep disorder?
Anamnesis
The anamnesis focuses on collecting information about the child's environment during sleep, the constant sleep time, the rituals when sleeping and the expectations of the parents. A detailed description of the mode of the child's day can be useful. Anamnesis should be analyzed for the presence of stresses in the life of the child, such as difficulties in school, viewing traumatic TV shows, using coffee with non-containing drinks. Information about the lack of a constant time to put to bed, a noisy unorganized sleeping place or frequent attempts by a child to manipulate parents using sleep behavior indicate the need for a lifestyle change. The expressed nervousness of the parents speaks of tensions within the family or that the parents have permanent and complex problems.
A sleep diary, filled for several nights, can help identify a child's sleep disorder (for example, sleeping, nighttime fears). A careful survey of older children and adolescents about the situation in school, friends, worries, symptoms of depression and mood often reveals the cause of sleep disturbance.
Inspection, laboratory and instrumental examination
Inspection, laboratory and instrumental examination, as a rule, give little useful information.
Treatment of sleep disorders in a child
The role of the doctor in the treatment of sleep disorders is to provide explanations and give advice to parents who must change the regime of the child's day in such a way that he has an acceptable schedule of sleep and wakefulness. Approaches vary depending on age and circumstances. Children of the first year of life can be reassured by quenching, providing background noise, rocking on your hands or in the crib. At the same time, the constant motion sickness of the child does not give him the opportunity to learn how to fall asleep independently, which is an important stage of development. Alternatively, parents can sit quietly near the crib, until the child falls asleep, so the child will learn to calm down and fall asleep without being in his arms. All children wake up at night, but children who have learned to fall asleep on their own can fall asleep themselves. If the child can not fall asleep again, the parents should make sure that there are no objective reasons that disturb the sleep, and soothe the child, but then you should let the baby fall asleep by yourself.
For older children, the introduction of a period of "slowdown" before bedding, with quiet activities such as reading, improves sleep. The constant time of bedding is very important, and a fixed ritual works for young children. If you ask a child with a formed speech to list the events of the day, this often leads to the disappearance of nightmares and walking in a dream. Encouraging physical activity during the day, avoiding traumatic television programs and films, refusing to allow sleep time to become an element of manipulation also helps to prevent sleep disturbance in a child. Stressful events (for example, moving, disease) can cause acute sleep problems in older children; it is always absolutely effective in this situation to support the child and reassure him. If we continue to allow the child in such a situation to sleep in the same bed with his parents, almost always this will not solve the problem, but will only prolong it.