Although most sleep disorders in children are based on behavioral problems, impaired sleep may be found in infants without behavioral problems, sleep apnea being one of those problems. Sleep disturbances may also result from allergies, the child‘s sleep may be disturbed by constant coughing, nose rubbing and scratching.
Enlarged adenoids or tonsils due to infection may cause obstruction of breathing, lying down may contribute to loss of pharangeal muscular tone in some children and this can contribute to sleep apnea.
A significant number of infants experience difficulties settling and falling asleep, while others have wakeful periods during the night.Infants may have a fear of the dark when left alone at bedtime, or sometimes a noisy environment can prevent the infant from settling. At times the child may be put to bed too early, which fails to allow for the differences in sleep patterns of the individual child.
Although many infants experience sleeping problems, the actual cause of them may not always be apparent. Developmental and behavioral reasons have been suggested, there may be psychological causes as a result tension in the home because of conflict between parents, and as a result of this the child may fear abandonment, and therefore experience sleep disturbances.
Children may wake a number of times during the night, and return to sleep immediately.Sudden awakening often results from a nightmare, the trigger for this often being a frightening experience during their waking hours. Frequent occurrence of nightmares in children usually indicates that the child is overly anxious and worried about something.Nightmares usually occur after a long REM period later in the night.
Night terrors occur in the first part of the night’s sleep cycle in stages 3 and 4 of NONREM sleep.Usually the child awakes with a loud scream accompanied by intense fear and anxiety.
Older children from the age of 6 onwards may sleepwalk, which usually involves a simple short aimless walk around the house and then taking themselves back to bed.
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