Examples of Child Sleep Disorders

Children’s sleep disorders can manifest themselves in many ways, and some can be more serious than others. The underlying factor in most cases is a child’s fear of the dark - something most of us can remember. We shall look at the different types of sleep disorders common in children and describe their symptoms and possible results. We shall attempt to help parents to understand what is happening to their children when they suffer from a sleep disorder, and also what they can, and should, do to help their offspring get over it.

A fear of the dark leads to nightmares, about monsters, dragons or any other nasty beast the child might have read about or seen on TV that day. In some cases these nightmares end with the child waking up shouting and screaming. This can already be considered a sleep disorder, but it becomes even more serious when it leads to bedwetting.

Sleep Walking

Sleep walking is another very common child sleep disorder. Walking and talking with wide open eyes while sleeping is very strange, but a natural and harmless occurrence during a young child’s life. A parent only needs to provide a safe environment for this disorder. Not knowing when your child is going to get up in the middle of the night and wander through the house can be very unsettling, but if you provide a safe area for them to wander your anxiety can be eliminated in this disorder. Grinding and gnashing of the teeth while asleep is another annoying, but very common child sleep disorder. This disorder is visibly and audibly disturbing, but again it is very harmless and most probably will just lead to dental problems.

There are many children who like to bang or roll their heads when trying to get to sleep. This is very normal, but again most annoying. This disorder again is harmless and a child sleep disorder that they will eventually outgrow. This disorder is harmless because if they child hits his head hard enough to hurt, then he will stop banging his head.

A disorder to watch carefully is sleep apnea. This child sleep disorder happens when the child stops and starts breathing again many times during the night. The symptoms for this disorder include loud snoring and complaining of morning headaches. There might also be frequent upper airway infections associated with this child sleep disorder.

A child’s sleep disorder is a problem that affects the entire family. Understanding the disorders and learning how to cope with them is something each family should do. There are many centers and organizations that are available to families to help them understand these disorders.