Types of Child Sleep Disorders

Children have just as much risk of developing sleep issues as adults. They may toss and turn at night or wake up drenched in sweat. Child sleep disorders can affect their ability to function and take part in daily activities. They can also have an effect on their growth and development. It is important to be able to recognize symptoms of these disorders so your child can be diagnosed and get good quality sleep. Child sleep disorders have specific symptoms and treatments for these disorders vary by type. Discussed below are the common disorders found among children and their common treatments.

Night terrors are very abrupt and consist of emotional outbursts, thrashing, and fear. During the occurrences, your child is partially awake and will not remember the events once fully awake. These episodes commonly occur in children between the ages of four and eight. Never wake a child when they are experiencing one of these episodes. If the episodes become very severe, you may need to speak with your pediatrician about treatment options.

Sleep walking is another common disorder that occurs in children between the ages of eight and twelve. They may sit up or walk around with their eyes open and mumble. Children often outgrow sleep walking when they reach their teens. Safety is most important due to unknown hazards while moving around in their sleep. Try to intervene as little as possible. You can awaken your child regularly and minimize the number of episodes they have.

Bed wetting occurs in many children between the ages of six and twelve. It happens during non-rapid eye movement sleep with general causes being a common family problem, slow development, and bladder capacity problems. It can also be caused by emotional distress. Treatments such as reinforcement training, teaching bladder control, and medications can help with the problem. If the bedwetting is caused by emotional distress, finding out the source of your child's distress and dealing with it can often eliminate it.

A more serious disorder that can affect children is sleep apnea. It is more common in adults but is also detected in a small percentage of children. A child suffering from this disorder will have difficulty breathing while asleep, often mouth breathe, and be very fatigued in the day time. For children, sleep apnea is not as serious as it is for adults. In adults, the airway can become completely blocked and breathing stops. The most common sleep apnea treatment for children is removing their tonsils. A secondary sleep apnea treatment that can be used is continued positive airway pressure. This is a home treatment where a machine is used to apply air pressure to the passageway in order to keep it unblocked throughout the night.

Determining if your child is suffering from child sleep disorders is the hardest part. If you notice symptoms are behaviors that you believe might be caused by sleep issues, make an appointment with your child's pediatrician and discuss what you are seeing. They can do further testing and diagnosis to determine if a problem exists and may recommend that your child sees a sleep specialist for the best treatment options.