kidsleepinfo

Treatment

The treatment for insomnia due to a sleep disorder requires a physician to properly diagnose and then treat the problem. Also, you need a physician trained to recognize and treat these problems, and many pediatricians and family practicioners don't have the necessary skills.

If your child fights bedtime and/or wakes at night past the age this is appropriate, and things like "crying it out" haven't worked, the problem is probably insomnia due to a sleep disorder and it won't resolve and could possibly get worse unless treated.

Although I can't go into specific treatments, if your child suffers from any of the problems mentioned on the page about causes of insomnia, tell your physician what you found. It's probably best to take a copy of the page with you. If they don't agree that there could be a connection, then ask if you can be referred to a sleep specialist who sees children. (Make sure you see a pediatric sleep specialist.)

In general, any child with the following problems - chronically congested nose, big tonsils or adenoids, mouth breathing, allergies, asthma, snoring, struggling to breathe during sleep, flinging motions of the arms and legs during sleep - need to get them under control to sleep better. Getting the child to nose breathe, removing the tonsils, and seeing a sleep specialist who can perform a sleep study that more accurately determines problems, are all possible outcomes.

Before seeing your doctor, it's a good idea to keep a detailed sleep history for a week or two before the visit. Jot down when the child slept and got up, and on at least one occasion, sit and observe your child sleeping for 2-3 hours. Listen for snoring or noisy breathing and any difficulty breathing, as well as for mouth breathing, and take this to discuss with your doctor. If you suspect any food allergies, you should also keep a diet history. There are many places on the internet you can look up the normal number of hours a child needs to sleep per night. Do so and compare to your child. If they aren't getting enough, you need to know why.