What is Sleep problems in children?

Sleep problems in children

What are sleep problems in children?

Many babies and young children have problems sleeping at first. But if children are still not sleeping through the night by the age of 2 years, they might have a sleep problem. All of this information is about children over the age of 2.

There are three main types of sleep problems:

Many children take a long time getting off to sleep.

Too little sleep
Nightmares, night terrors and sleepwalking
Too much sleep.

The first two types of sleep problems are the most common in children. We don't know exactly what causes some children to have sleep problems. There are probably many reasons. Some of these are given below.

Children learn certain sleep patterns. For example, if you give them lots of attention or treats when they wake at night, they may learn that waking at night is a good thing. These learned patterns may be behind some sleep problems.
Young children have more REM (rapid eye movement) sleep than adults. During REM sleep, your brain is very active but your body is limp. Most dreaming happens during REM sleep. This type of sleep is often also linked to short periods of waking. Young children may need help to get back to sleep after waking from a dream.

Source:
France KG, Blampied NM.
Infant sleep disturbance: description of a problem behaviour process.
Sleep Medicine Reviews. 1999; 3: 265-280.

¹
Some children have a sleep problem because their body clock is disrupted. Your body clock is sometimes called the circadian rhythm. It makes you feel sleepy at night when it's dark, and lively during the day. This gets out of sync sometimes when, for example, you have jet lag after traveling.

Certain things make your child more likely to get a sleep problem. These are known as risk factors. Risk factors for children having sleep problems include:

Source:
Weissbluth M, Davis AT, Poncher J.
Night waking in 4-8-month-old infants.
Journal of Pediatrics. 1984; 104: 477-480.

Source:
Richman N.
A community survey of characteristics of one-to-two-year-olds with sleep disruptions.
Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry. 1981; 20: 281-291.

Source:
Jimmerson KR.
Maternal, environmental, and temperamental characteristics of toddlers with and toddlers without sleep problems.
Journal of Pediatric Health Care. 1991; 5: 71-77.

⁴

Having had colic as a baby
Having a difficult temperament, for example, being easily excited, moody or stubborn.

First-born children are also more likely to have sleep problems.

Sleep problems are often worse in children with physical or learning disabilities.

Source:
Montgomery P, Dunne D.
Sleep disorders in children. September 2007.
Clinical Evidence (Based on September 2006 search). Available at http://clinicalevidence.bmj.com/ceweb/conditions/chd/2304/2304.jsp (accessed on 21 October 2008).

⁵ These include children who have

epilepsy
Epilepsy is a condition that affects your brain. If you have epilepsy, the normal electrical activity in your brain gets disturbed from time to time. This leads to seizures (also called fits).

epileptic seizures, autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD for short).

Source:
Heussler HS.
Common causes of sleep disruption and daytime sleepiness: childhood sleep disorder II.
Medical Journal of Australia. 2005; 182: 484-489.

⁶ We don't fully know why. But we do know that:

Children with sight problems who can't see light, which controls their body clock, may get a disrupted body clock
Many medications can cause sleep problems, for example, drugs used to treat epilepsy can make you drowsy
Some genetic disorders cause sleep disturbance, for example, children with

Down syndrome
Down's syndrome affects some people from birth. It causes learning difficulties, and it also makes some physical problems more likely. It is caused by an extra chromosome. Chromosomes are found in all our cells, and contain genes, which tell cells how to grow and behave.

Down syndrome may have disrupted sleep because of breathing problems.

Sources for the information on this page:

France KG, Blampied NM.Infant sleep disturbance: description of a problem behaviour process.Sleep Medicine Reviews. 1999; 3: 265-280.

Weissbluth M, Davis AT, Poncher J.Night waking in 4-8-month-old infants.Journal of Pediatrics. 1984; 104: 477-480.

Richman N.A community survey of characteristics of one-to-two-year-olds with sleep disruptions.Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry. 1981; 20: 281-291.

Jimmerson KR.Maternal, environmental, and temperamental characteristics of toddlers with and toddlers without sleep problems.Journal of Pediatric Health Care. 1991; 5: 71-77.

Montgomery P, Dunne D.Sleep disorders in children. September 2007.Clinical Evidence (Based on September 2006 search). Available at http://clinicalevidence.bmj.com/ceweb/conditions/chd/2304/2304.jsp (accessed on 21 October 2008).

Heussler HS.Common causes of sleep disruption and daytime sleepiness: childhood sleep disorder II.Medical Journal of Australia. 2005; 182: 484-489.

This information was last updated on May 12, 2009

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