According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than two-thirds of children 10 and younger experience some form of sleep problem. Sleep in children is vital for their health, development, learning, growth and safety. Children’s poor sleep habits also affect their parents and caregivers, some of whom lost an estimated 200 hours or 7% of their required sleep per year due to their child’s nighttime awakenings.

Children who suffer from sleep disorders often exhibit symptoms through daytime behaviors such as tiredness, irritability, hyperactivity, easy frustration, difficulty controlling emotions and difficulty focusing attention in school. Chronic sleep deprivation in children and adolescents may be easily overlooked or erroneously attributed to hyperactivity or attention disorders. While adults tend to become sluggish when tired, children are opposite, causing them to speed up and overcompensate. For this reason, sleep deprivation is often confused with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Treating sleep problems may be enough to eliminate behavioral issues.

Sleep Apnea in Children
Nearly 13% of children aged 6-11 and 14% of adolescents aged 12-19 are overweight. Not only does this added weight in children and adolescents put them at risk for heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, but it also puts America’s youth at risk for sleep apnea, a dangerous condition. Additional factors that may contribute to sleep apnea in children are: allergies, asthma, GERD (gastroenterological reflux disorder), abnormalities of the jaw or face and medical or neurological disorders. Symptoms of sleep apnea in children include excessive sleepiness, hyperactivity, behavioral problems and the inability to pay attention are daytime symptoms. Snoring, the pause of breathing during sleep, restless sleep, mouth breathing and difficulty waking even after the proper amount of sleep are nighttime symptoms.
Additionally, nearly 10% of all children snore frequently and 1-3% of those children suffer from sleep apnea. Only a child’s physician can differentiate between frequent snoring and sleep apnea.

Snoring in Children
As many as 10–15 percent of young children, who typically have enlarged adenoids and tonsils, snore on a regular basis. Several studies show that children who snore (with or without sleep apnea) are more likely than those who do not snore to score lower on tests that measure intelligence, memory, and ability to maintain attention. These children also have more problematic behavior, including hyperactivity. The end result is that children who snore do not perform in school as well as those who do not snore.
Although the behavior of children improves after they stop snoring, studies suggest they may continue to get poorer grades in school, perhaps because of lasting effects on the brain linked to the snoring. You should have your child evaluated by your doctor if the child snores loudly and frequently—three to four times a week—especially if brief pauses in breathing while asleep are noted and if there are signs of hyperactivity or daytime sleepiness, inadequate school achievement or slower than expected development. Surgery to remove the adenoids and tonsils of children often can cure their snoring and any associated sleep apnea. Such surgery has been linked to a reduction in hyperactivity and improved ability to pay attention, even in children who showed no signs of sleep apnea before surgery.

Insomnia
Children and adolescents can, in fact, also suffer from insomnia which is characterized by non-refreshing sleep, difficulty falling asleep, trouble staying asleep and/or early morning awakenings. It is important for parents to set a sleep routine early in the child’s life to help prevent these potential sleep barriers.

Restless Legs Syndrome
What is often thought to be ‘growing pains’ or ‘creepy crawlies’ can also be signs of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). While there is no known cause of RLS, it affects a child’s ability to sleep well and on average children that experience RLS lose about an hour of sleep per night, according to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2004 Sleep in America Poll.

Night Terrors
Night terrors can be scary for both children and their parents. Children whom experience night terrors will often wake suddenly within the first third of the night with uncontrollable screaming, sweating and experiencing a rapid heart rate as well as confusion. After the night terror, the child will drift back to sleep, waking in the morning with no memory of the event. Night terrors are often caused by irregular sleep schedules, lack of sleep and stress.

Sleep Walking
Sleep walking is commonly found in children aged three to seven and occurs usually early in the night. If a child sleep walks frequently, it is important to make sure that their surroundings are safe and soft. Sleepwalking can be genetic or potentially signify sleep apnea.

Sleep Talking
Roughly 12% of preschool-age children talk in their sleep and is characterized by the utterance of speech or other sounds during sleep, without awareness. Talking, laughing or crying during sleep is not usually considered to be a problem.

Bed Wetting
Nearly 14% of preschoolers and 4% of school-aged children wet the bed at least a couple nights a week. Bed wetting is considered a disorder if it occurs more than twice per month after age six. Bed wetting is more prevalent in boys and if it continues to occur, may suggest a development problem associated with failure to recognize when the bladder is full.

Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is more often found in adolescents, but can occur in children as young as ten years of age. Children that suffer from narcolepsy tend to experience excessive daytime sleepiness and uncontrollable daytime sleep attacks despite receiving adequate sleep at night.