Understanding childhood insomnia: A parent's guide

 

Problems like Insomnia are often associated with adults. After all, why would a child have trouble falling asleep? Well, the reality is that children, be it infants, toddlers, or teens, can develop insomnia too. This can be due to a variety of reasons, and, unfortunately, all these can drastically impact their overall health. As in the case of adults, Insomnia in children is marked by the inability of a child to fall asleep, or stay asleep at night. The sleeping hours of the child are quite less as compared to the normal amount of sleeping time that is required on a daily basis. Experts offering the best treatment for insomnia suggest that children in the age group of 6 to 13 years need about 9 to 11 hours of sleep every day, whereas teens need about 8 to10 hours of sleep.

 

How to know if your child has insomnia?

If your little one sleeps with you at night, it is very easy to figure out, however, if your child sleeps in a separate room it might not be that easy. You will have to look for the slightest of the symptoms and take them into account.

As per the best doctor for sleep disorders, children suffering from the problem tend to exhibit the following symptoms:

●      Feeling sleepy during daytime

●      Reduced attention span

●      Depression

●      Aggressiveness and irritability

●      Problems with memory

●      Mood swings

 

What causes insomnia in children?

As mentioned earlier, there can be many factors responsible for disrupting your child's normal sleep cycle. The most common of these is going to bed too late. Now, it is important for every parent to understand what could be keeping their child up, till late at night. This could be because your child is over-scheduled with too much work, be it exam preparation, homework or some extracurricular activities, or it can even be because they willingly stay up late to watch their favourite series, play video games, or chat with their friends.

In some cases, the parents might set a realistic time for their child's sleep, but still, he/she is not able to fall asleep. There can be many reasons behind it and the leading children's asthma doctor suggests that the problem could be triggered by asthma as well. Other factors include:

●      Anxiety

●      High caffeine intake

●      Stress or depression

●      Eczema

●      Neurological disorders

●      Obstructive sleep apnea

●      Restless leg syndrome

It is pertinent to note that your child's inability to fall asleep may also be due to some medication that he/she has been taking, for instance, antidepressants and corticosteroids.

 

Is it possible to treat Insomnia in children?

To devise out proper treatment, it is very important to look at the underlying cause as it needs to be addressed. If the child is having sleep apnea, he/she might need surgical treatment, and if the problem is due to some medicine, the dosage might need to be changed. As poorly controlled asthma can also be the reason behind your child's inability to fall asleep, stronger medicines may be prescribed to manage the same. Many parents think that giving sleeping pills to their little ones might work, but these come with many side effects. By far, no sleeping pill has been approved to be used by small children.

In extreme cases, the child will be recommended to take any of the following:

●      Antihistamines

●      Clonidine

●      Melatonin

●      Risperdal

●      Certain antidepressants

 

Besides these, you may also try some non-pharmacological treatments like

●      Exercising on a daily basis

●      Limiting caffeine and completely avoiding it during the evening

●      Reading before going to bed

●      Making a proper sleep schedule and following it strictly

Practising relaxation techniques like visual imagery and diaphragmatic breathing.