Sleep Problems

Tracy Tresidder :


On the weekends, the door to the ‘Bat Cave’ remains shut for half the day while everyone else in the family, up for hours, goes about their business.

Should you be concerned about this antisocial rite of passage?

Is there something more to your adolescent’s sleep habits? Relax. There is good news. Landmark studies into the adolescent brain have revealed that the contrariness of a teen’s biorhythms are in fact just what nature intended.

According to Dr Jay Giedd, Chief of Brain Imaging at the Child Psychiatry Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health in the USA, daytime sleepiness and late-night alertness are the result of a shift in the sleep/wake cycle as growth hormones kick into high gear.

During the night, growth hormone is released during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) or “dream sleep,” which takes place at the end of each sleep cycle. One of the things parents begin to notice is the kid who used to jump out of bed bright as a button, now has to be woken and dragged out of bed to get to school on time.

Importantly, it’s not just your teen’s shoe size that’s getting bigger. His or her brain is also growing. One study, indicates that there is a second wave of brain growth, particularly in the prefrontal cortex or “thinking” part of the brain, which continues into the teen years and even into the 20s.

During this time, new brain cells and neural connections or “wires” which connect the right and left sides of the brain and are critical to intelligence, self-awareness and performance, grow like branches on a tree. Daytime stimulation, in the form of school and social interaction, gets “hard-wired” into the adolescent brain during the latter stages of sleep, including REM sleep.

Cut these sleep stages short and performance suffers the next day, “If you want to learn really well and to be really efficient in your learning, the best way to do it is to get a good night’s sleep.

Most teens probably need about 9.5 hours of sleep, say experts, but the reality of a typical teen life – early morning soccer or swim practice, homework and perhaps a part-time job after school – means that most are lucky to get 7-1/2 hours. Chronic sleep deprivation can affect mood and make it difficult for a teen to perform or even react appropriately.

Rosie_11/3 asked:


I am going to use a bassinet for the baby to sleep in until it is about 3-4 months old. My mother and sister disagree about not moving the baby to a crib after that. I and the father of the baby want to have the baby sleep in the bed with me until it moves to it’s own bed when it gets older. My mother and sister are being to controlling over the issue and are threatening to call child protective services if I refuse to use the crib later. Do they really have the right to do that? Is it against the law or considered child endangerment if the baby sleeps in an adult bed with the parent if there is no threat to them? I don’t smoke, drink, or use drugs and I think the baby will be safer in the bed with me rather than in a crib in case there is ever an emergency?

dfbroo asked:


I gave my 2 year old son the recommended dosage of Mucinx for kids at 11am. He then refussed to take his normal nap after lunch. The box said to give him the same dosage every 4hrs so at 3pm he got his second dosage. He stayed up until 7:30 with out any nap at all, but then us up at 11pm and refused to go back to sleep until 3am. Could this be caused from the mucinx?

Jennifer M asked:


Ok so about a year ago I got into the bad habit of letting my 4 yr old son sleep in my bed. Once I got rid of his crib and into a bed, he wouldn’t stay in there. I would keep putting him back in there but once 11 pm came I would give up and let him sleep with me. So it has now been a year and and I need to get him into his own bed because now he refuses to go to sleep unless I do. Some nights he is up until 11. Its hard because I am a single mother, work full time and go to school 2 nights a week. He will be starting kindergarten in the fall and i know that this has to change. What can I do to get him to fall asleep in his own bed at an early time?

love.heidi asked:


My 2 year old usd to sleep fine in his own bed and room alone until he was 18 months old. In fact he wouldnt fall asleep anywhere else. One night he woke up crying and refused to sleep in his room and never did after that. I think it may have been emotional stress because his father and I had been going through a hard time and his father was no longer living with us. He will be 3 in January and he still has to sleep with me. I dont mind him sleeping in my bed, but I know if I dont get him to sleep in his own bed, it will trun out that he’ll want to sleep with me till he is 9 or something ridiculous. Is it healthy for a child to sleep with their parents? Over all how can I get him to sleep in his own room?

jude asked:


My aunt’s three year old child refuses to go to sleep. She’ll scream and cry when she’s told that’s it’s bedtime, even if she may be tired. Her mom has tried lying next to her, singing, punishments, threats, ignoring, reasoning… nothing seems to work.
The girl is adopted, by the way, and there were some rumors of abuse, though they weren’t ever confirmed. She has a habit of sucking on her fingers and biting her nails to the point of blood, but pain doesn’t seem to bother her too much.
Any advice on how to get her to quiet down and get to sleep? Thank you for any comments.

sleepyincarolina asked:


i have tried everything to get him to sleep… i have tried letting him cry it out… i have taken the bottle away… but i always give in after an hour or so of crying. I feel bad if i let him cry for more than an hour… but the longest i have gone at letting him cry it out is 2 1/2 hours. That was horrible. Is there any other way? I tried letting him cry it out for about 3 weeks… and he would refuse to go back to sleep without his bottle. he wakes up twice a night… and once in the morning for a bottle. Help me please… i need sleep. lol
ok to answer some of your questions… he eats so much during the day and only takes one nap…. i put oatmeal in his bottle at night and he is completely off the bottle during the day. But before he bed we do have a routine… i give him a bath.. bring him down stairs, we read to him, he eats a jar of fruit, plays a little bit more… then we brush his teeth and put him to bed with a bottle. Which I know is the problem. He associates the bottle with bed. I have tried exhausting him and letting him fall asleep on his own but he just wakes up later and screams it out. I do go in there while he is crying and I’ll soothe him and rub his back and head… but that doesn’t help at all. I so didn’t want to try and let him cry it out… but the retarded doctor told me too. and she makes me mad over alot of things she say to do and not to do. So I did take her advice for the bottle and haven’t tried it since then I am looking for new ideas and will look into the ferber method. thank you
Ok for the people who say I am being cruel… ONE I WAS TRYING TO FOLLOW WHAT THE DOCTOR SAID TO TRY!!! Did you miss that part in my section. I don’t like to let him cry it out and I will never do it again. And I can not put him in my bed because we have associated that my bed is playtime area. We take him before his bath and after his bath he plays on our bed. So that is not going to work. I do go in there and rock him, sing to him, rub his little back and play with his hair… it is a no go…. i was trying to ween him off of the botlle and that worked during the day… which i have replaced with whole milk out of a cup and water. I have tried replacing his formula with water at night… but that doesn’t work either since he doesn’t drink water out of a bottle he drinks it out of a cup. So i have tried everything right now… except this ferber method. So please do not try and say i am cruel…. i was told by the doctor to do this and so i tried it out…even though i didn’t want to

Megan asked:


I’m in DESPERATE need of my daughter to sleep a full night.

I’m a single 18 year old parent(her dads not around so its all on me), who goes to school fulltime and works. my daughter refuses to sleep all night. I’m incredibly exhausted as anyone with a child could understand.

any tips or suggestions to help?
she sleeps in my room so she knows I’m there.
she wakes up atleast 1 time a night for up to 3 hours.

please. I’m desperate for some sleep.

Janessa asked:


Well not so much refuse, but like for instance – this morning my daughter got up at 3:30 a.m. and came to my room telling me her bed was cold could she sleep in mine? So I let her, then at 4 my husband took her back to bed. Then at 6:30 she was up again and stayed up the rest of the day. She didnt have a nap yesterday either so I know she was so exhausted. She had dark circles under her eyes all day. Does your child ever do this or have they ever? She has a couple times before, but she was like that as a baby as well… hated to sleep and screamed from the time she was tired til she couldnt fight it anymore.

Thanks for answers.

She is 4 years old by the way.

Tessa O’Hera asked:


My 3 year old, does not listen, does not potty, does not go to sleep when she should, Does not want to eat breakfast, does not play well with her sister, and so on… And now, her sister who is almost 1 1/2 years old is starting to act like her, she also has a real bad habit of screaming, even when nothing is wrong!!! Oh, and time out, yelling, talking sweetly, sending to the room, and all has not worked!!!!!! help, at witt’s end!