REM Sleep Labs Blog
Date posted: january 11, 2012 03:17pm
Perhaps the most challenging part of being a parent is the lack of sleep that goes along with the job. Many parents understand how difficult it is to cope with a baby that has difficulty falling or staying asleep. In most instances of troubled sleep, pediatricians will dismiss it as normal behavior for a baby, but when should parents be worried that their child is not getting enough rest? An Orange County sleep center may be able to identify if your child has a sleep disorder, contact a professional for a consultation.
For normal development, young children and babies need sleep; children under one month require fifteen-sixteen hours per day of shut eye. Babies at this young age do not have a regular internal clock, so they tend to sleep for periods of two hours at a time, only waking to eat. This amount of sleep is very crucial for brain development. If your newborn is having difficulty during this time, a pediatrician should be made aware.
As children grow, they will slowly require less sleep; up to age one, children need at least fourteen hours which should decrease to twelve hours by age three. These years tend to establish a sleep pattern and tell whether a child will develop a sleep problem later in their toddler or adolescent years.
A recent study showed that young babies with sleep disturbances continued to have a problem with sleep continuing into childhood, they did not outgrow the problem like some pediatricians suggested. The survey proved that babies with sleep problems were more likely to suffer sleep disruptions as a toddler compared to babies who had no difficulty sleeping.
Researchers at Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio found that one out of ten children suffer some form of sleep disturbance, such as, sleepwalking, night terrors, or an inability to sleep in their own bed. Difficult sleep starts early, contact an Orange County sleep center if you feel your child may be developing bad sleeping habits, children may not always have the ability to outgrow the problem on their own.
When two hundred mothers were polled about their child’s sleep patterns, twenty one to thirty five children who had difficulty at night falling asleep, continued to have a problem throughout their toddler years. Children under two, mostly suffered from an inability to fall or stay asleep, while those older than three, tended to have difficulty stemming from nightmares or restlessness.
Sleep has a big impact on brain development and children’s moods, those that do not get enough sleep, tend to be cranky, irritable, and do not perform as well as other children in areas of aptitude and achievement of milestones. Sleep is also very important for parents and siblings; when a baby has difficulty sleeping, everyone in the house suffers as well.
If you are concerned that your child is not getting enough sleep, trust your instincts! No one knows when something is wrong with a child better than a parent; when things do not seem right, always tell your family physician or consult a pediatrician for advice. Sleep is so important for your growing baby; if you need advice identifying a sleep disorder in your child, consult an Orange County sleep center for advice.
