Sleeping little and sleeping poorly will greatly affect your baby’s health, mind and body. While your baby sleeps, growth hormones will work strongly to help your baby grow taller and smarter. Sleeping poorly will also make your baby feel tired, less flexible, less focused the next day, lose appetite and slow growth. If your baby often wakes up, cries, has trouble sleeping, tosses and turns, sleeps little and sleeps late… he or she may be suffering from a sleep disorder. So what is a sleep disorder? Let’s find out with Autoru !
How important is sleep in children?
Sleep plays an extremely important role in the development and health of children. For children, sleep is not only a time to rest but also a time when the body and brain are active to recover and develop. Through sleep, the child’s brain has more time to process information, store memories and develop new skills.
Sleep also affects your baby’s overall health. Adequate and proper sleep helps strengthen the immune system, supports physical growth and reduces the risk of diseases such as obesity, diabetes and psychological problems.
In addition, sleep also affects children’s mental and behavioral health. Children who get enough and quality sleep often have better concentration, increased learning and communication skills, and reduced negative emotions such as stress.
See more: What to do to form sleeping habits for your child
How much sleep is enough for a child a day?
According to medical experts, here is a general study on the number of hours of sleep needed for children by age:
- Newborns (under 4 months old) need about 14-17 hours of sleep per day, including daytime and nighttime sleep.
- Babies between 4 and 12 months old typically need about 12-16 hours of sleep per day, split between daytime and nighttime sleep.
- Children aged 1 to 2 years usually need about 11-14 hours of sleep per day, including daytime and nighttime sleep.
- Children aged 3 to 5 years old usually need about 10-13 hours of sleep per day, which can be divided into daytime and nighttime sleep.
- Children aged 6 to 12 years typically need about 9-12 hours of sleep per day, depending on each child’s individual needs and daily activities.
Keeping your child on a balanced and adequate sleep schedule not only helps them develop comprehensively, but also helps improve their mental health, enhance their memory, and strengthen their resistance. However, it should be noted that the number of hours of sleep needed may vary depending on each child and their personal factors, so it is important to observe and adjust accordingly.
Causes of sleep disorders in children
Sleep disorders in children are a common problem that many parents face. There are many different causes of sleep disorders in children, understanding the causes can help parents find effective solutions to help their children have healthier sleep.
Physiological causes
Sleep disorders in young children can largely stem from physiological causes, that is, problems with the baby’s body and biological system. Developmental times such as crawling, walking, teething, etc., or when the baby moves too much can also affect the baby’s sleep. Feeding the baby too much or too little is also one of the causes of difficulty sleeping in children.
Pathological causes
- In addition, pathological causes in children can also cause difficulty sleeping in children. Here are some common diseases in children:
- Sleep-disordered breathing: Problems such as nasal congestion, sore throat or tonsillitis can make it difficult for your baby to breathe while sleeping, causing shallow and interrupted sleep.
- Digestive disorders: Constipation, colic, or stomach problems can make your baby feel uncomfortable when lying down, reducing the quality of your baby’s sleep.
- Nervous system disorders: Problems such as cramps, back pain or muscle tension can make it difficult for your baby to sleep.
- Hormonal imbalances: Changes or disruptions in hormone production, such as increased cortisol due to stress, can also affect a child’s sleep.
- Immune system disorders: Medical conditions such as arthritis, allergies or immune system problems can make your baby feel uncomfortable and cause sleep disturbances.
Nervous system disorders: Problems such as metabolic disorders, brain damage or other neurological conditions can affect a child’s sleep.
Mistakes when putting children to sleep
Some mistakes when putting your baby to sleep can cause sleep disorders in children. One common mistake is the lack of consistency in training your baby’s sleep habits. Without a fixed sleep schedule, your baby may have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. Lack of attention to the sleeping space is also a mistake. Factors such as bright light, noise, and inappropriate temperature can disrupt your baby’s sleep. Understanding and avoiding these mistakes can help improve your baby’s sleep and reduce the risk of sleep disorders.
See also: Have you ever … hit your child?
Signs of sleep disorders in children
As toddlers, they often take one long nap instead of two short naps. Common signs of sleep disorders in children include:
- The baby lay in bed but could not close his eyes to sleep. He kept asking for this and that all evening.
- The baby only sleeps for about 90 minutes before waking up again, even at night.
- Baby has itchy feet at night.
- The baby snores loudly.
How to overcome sleep disorders in children
Overcoming sleep disorders in children requires patience, understanding and consistency from parents. Here are some ways to help your child overcome this problem:
- Create a comfortable sleep environment: Make sure your child’s bedroom is quiet, dark, and cool. Using tools like a night light, soft music, or a white noise machine can help your child drift off to sleep.
- Practice good sleep habits: Before bedtime, activities such as a warm bath, reading a book or listening to soft music can help your child relax and prepare for sleep.
- Reduce the use of electronic devices before bedtime: Limit the time spent using phones, computers or TVs before bedtime, as the blue light from these devices can reduce melatonin production, causing difficulty sleeping in children.
- Practice comforting techniques: When your baby wakes up at night or has trouble falling asleep, soothe him or her by cuddling, singing, or reading until he or she falls back asleep.
- Seek advice and support: If your child’s sleep disturbance does not improve after taking home measures, consult a doctor or child psychologist for immediate support.
By observing and understanding the signs of sleep that your baby is experiencing, you will have a way to overcome this situation in many different ways or seek advice from a doctor. Autoru hopes that the above information will help mothers a lot in improving their baby’s sleep.