Sleep Problems and Your Child
Getting your kids to sleep can be a daunting task. When your child is a baby, you anticipate some sleep disruptions but you expect that your child will be able to grow out of it and be exercising healthy sleep practices by the time he reaches school age. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Many children suffer from difficulties in falling and staying asleep, and these habits if uncorrected can follow them into adulthood.
Sleep Cycles
When you sleep, you move between the sleep cycles of REM or rapid eye movement and NREM, which is non-rapid eye movement. When you are in the REM cycle of sleep your eyes will move and your body stays stationary for the most part. This is the sleep cycle where dreams occur. REM is considered a lighter sleep cycle than NREM, which is considered deep sleep. Most children as well as adults are more likely to wake up during the REM cycle of sleep.
Newborns can complete a sleep cycle in between 50-60 minutes. This keeps them in a lighter cycle of sleep and gives them lots of opportunities to awaken during the night. Babies that are older will sleep for longer periods, though they may still wake up at least once during the night. Many times they can go back to sleep on their own, but some babies may need a little help from you to get back to dreamland.
School-Age Children
When children begin school, they still need plenty of sleep, between nine and twelve hours per night. Once kids start school, sleep deprivation can become common and prevent your child from performing at their best. You can see for yourself if your child is getting the sleep they need by checking if they fall asleep within a half hour. Kids who are getting enough sleep will wake easily in the morning when you tell them to rise and shine, and you shouldn’t have to keep going in their room to check that they are up. To find out if your child is getting enough sleep, and to correct sleep problems early visit Your Child: Development & Behavior Resources.
Filed under: Child Health
