A healthy sound sleep is necessary for the restoration of strength, health of the whole organism and the nervous system. Sleep disturbances are common, but especially bad when children suffer from insomnia or frequent awakenings, as this can negatively affect their mental health. Before you start dealing with this problem, you need to understand its causes.
Causes of sleep disorders in children
Normally, a newborn child sleeps 16 hours a day, a six-month-old - 14.5 hours, a one-year-old - 13.5. By the age of 2, the need for sleep decreases to 13 hours, by 4 - to 11, by 6 - to 9, 5. Adolescents should sleep at least 8, 5 hours. If you notice that the child sleeps less, does not get enough sleep and walks all day overwhelmed, you must figure out the reason for this.
One of the most important causes of sleep disturbance is somatic diseases that are not related to the activity of the nervous system. It can be otitis media, colds with high fever, colic, dysbiosis, etc. Sometimes insomnia is caused by toothache or stomatitis. In this case, only timely treatment of the disease can help the child.
The second significant reason for disturbed sleep in children is problems in the functioning of the nervous system. If your child is not diagnosed with a disease of the nervous system, but he has fainting, headaches, hearing impairment, memory problems, cramps, pain in the neck or lumbar region, he has had head injuries, etc. - you need to be checked by a neurologist and undergo diagnostics: magnetic resonance imaging, polysomnography, electroneuromyography, etc.
Sometimes a hereditary factor is the cause of a child's insomnia. If you suffer from sleep disorders, chances are high that your children will also face this problem.
Most often, children suffer from sleep disorders due to strong emotional stress and stress. The period of exams, a dysfunctional family environment, overexcitement due to a large number of guests in the house - all this can lead to insomnia or the appearance of night fears in a sensitive child. To help your baby, it is necessary to eliminate the factor causing overexcitement or excitement. Use traditional medicine - before bedtime, brew soothing teas with valerian, chamomile, hops for your child.
The next factors that cause sleep problems are inaccuracies in nutrition and poor sleep conditions. In the first case, you need to fight insomnia by correcting the menu and excluding caffeine, heavy and salty foods from it. In the second case, it is necessary to create comfortable conditions for sleeping - the bedroom should be dark, quiet and cool, bed and linen should be comfortable and pleasant to the body.
Sleepwalking, sleep talk and nightmares
There are sleep pathologies in the world that are difficult to explain and almost impossible to cure. Among them are sleepwalking, sleep talk and nightmares. These problems can manifest themselves already in early childhood and haunt a person all his life.
Sleepwalking is walking while you sleep. Sometimes parents do not even notice that the child walks in a dream, because his eyes are open and his actions are purposeful. However, in the morning he will not be able to remember that he got up at night, that he will be broken and tired. Sleepwalking can be caused by epilepsy, diseases of the genitourinary system. If you notice such a phenomenon, immediately consult a doctor.
Sleep talk is a fairly common disorder that happens to adults as well. A person in this state can speak individual words and whole phrases. Exacerbations most often occur against the background of neuro-emotional disorders, with strong arousal before bedtime. This pathology is not treatable, the only thing that can be done is to drink soothing teas before bed.
Nightmares differ from ordinary dreams in a very scary plot and high memorability. The child wakes up at night screaming, crying, cramps in the throat, and in the morning he clearly remembers his dream. If nightmares dream more often than once a week, the child needs a doctor's consultation.
