Insomnia in children
Release time : 04/21/2025 09:30:01
Adults often experience insomnia for various reasons, such as excessive work pressure and excitement from life events.
Insomnia poses significant harm to human health. Survey data indicates that the prevalence of insomnia is as high as 42%.
Young children can also experience insomnia.
What are the symptoms of infantile insomnia? What causes pediatric sleeplessness? In contrast to adults, infantile insomnia includes symptoms such as nighttime awakenings, somnambulism, and nocturnal terror.
1. Night terrors are a common occurrence in children with insomnia, referring to a sudden and brief episode of fear during sleep that often appears in children aged 5-6 years old.
After falling asleep for 30 minutes to 2 hours, the child suddenly sits up and screams or cries out, stares at the eyes, or closes them tightly, showing a very scared expression.
Generally, children experience night terrors during which they appear confused and indifferent to their parents' calls, remaining unresponsive for a few seconds to several minutes before quickly falling asleep once more.
The next day, the child woke up unable to recall or only feeling fearful.
Night terrors are primarily associated with psychological and social factors in children, such as family discord, sudden separation from parents or relatives, unexpected events at home, severe criticism and punishment from parents or teachers, listening to exciting stories before bedtime or watching horror films.
Sleepwalking occurs during the first three hours of sleep, when a child suddenly gets up or walks or performs familiar actions while in bed. They may not respond to their parents' calls, or mutter to themselves. After a few minutes, they will return to bed. The next day, they cannot recall what happened during the night.
Many dream-walking children, when they grow up, the symptoms gradually disappear, which is the result of their central nervous system maturing.
But for children with nocturnal enuresis, early identification by a physician of the possibility of temporal lobe epilepsy is essential.
It is important to note that children who sleepwalk have the potential for injury. Therefore, it is usually advisable to wake them up before the onset of their sleepwalking episodes.
3. Nightmare, a night terror is when a child awakens from a contentious and frightening dream in the late hours of the night, feeling extremely tense and anxious. It is common among children aged 8-10 years old during their school years.
In a nightmare, the baby may exhibit very fearful behavior, shaking all over and parents can easily sense the baby's nervousness.
Unlike night terrors, nightmares are easily awoken by adults, who can quickly regain consciousness upon being awakened. They can remember the dream vividly and feel very frightened.
What are the risks of pediatric insomnia? Adequate sleep is essential for maintaining normal bodily functions, especially crucial for a child's growth and development. It is one of the prerequisite conditions for ensuring healthy child growth.
1. Influence of brain creativity once a researcher divided 24 children into two groups to conduct testing, the results were the same in both groups.
Then, one group of children was kept awake for a night while the other group was allowed to rest normally and then underwent testing.
The results showed that there was a significant difference in the test scores between the sleep-deprived group and the normal sleep group.
From this, researchers believe that to have clear and responsive thinking, it is essential to have ample sleep. If one lacks sufficient sleep for an extended period, the brain will not be sufficiently rested, which can affect creative thinking and the ability to make judgments about things.
2. Impact on Growth and Development: Poor sleep quality directly affects the growth and development of infants and children. During their crucial stages of physical and cognitive development, poor sleep has a profound impact on the brain's development, posing significant risks to both the body and psychological well-being.
Some growth hormones are only secreted in abundance during sleep, which promote the growth of various tissues throughout the body, especially bones.
If children do not get enough sleep, they will feel tired and lack energy, which affects their growth and development.
3. Insomnia can lead to the occurrence of diseases due to insufficient sleep, which can cause one's mood to become anxious and worried, immune function to decline, thereby leading to the occurrence of various diseases such as colds, neurasthenia, gastrointestinal diseases, etc.
Researchers have found that insufficient sleep can also lead to elevated cholesterol levels in the blood, an increase in the incidence of heart diseases, and that cellular division is primarily occurring during sleep. Insufficient or disrupted sleep can affect this normal cell division process, potentially causing mutations in cancer cells and leading to the development of cancer.
4. Impact on Children's Learning and Life This disease can affect children's learning and life, as it can lead to many children experiencing a lack of energy for attending classes the next day, resulting in declining academic performance, and a lack of enthusiasm to engage in play and entertainment with classmates.
What are the causes of pediatric insomnia? There are many reasons for pediatric insomnia, including environmental factors, physical conditions in the infants themselves, and dietary issues.
1. If babies have a full stomach before going to sleep or are hungry, they will experience insomnia.
2. If the environment is too noisy while baby sleeps, it can also cause pediatric insomnia.
3. If babies consume stimulants like cola, coffee, and strong tea before bed, their brains will remain excited for a long time, leading to pediatric insomnia.
4. The baby is not yet quite tired.
So, you might as well play with your baby for a while longer. When they get tired, they'll naturally want to sleep.
5. The weather is too hot or too cold.
So, you don't have to touch the baby's hand or back to see if they feel hot or cold.
6. Whether the baby is sick is the worst thing. Pay attention at this time and make timely diagnosis depending on the situation.
7. In addition to the above reasons, insomnia in older children is often related to psychological tension, anxiety, and depression caused by study, family, and social factors.
In addition, if children drink certain mentally exciting drinks at night, such as cola, tea, coffee, etc., they can cause brain excitement and insomnia.
8. Some children form a conditioned reflex after insomnia several times. When they go to bed, they are worried that they cannot sleep. They are anxious because of worry, forming habitual insomnia.
Measures to deal with insomnia in children When mothers discover that their baby has insomnia, they don't have to worry too much, and remember to comfort the baby in time first.
A baby's sleep disorder is related to the baby's physiological, psychological and temperament characteristics. It is the result of the interaction of one's own characteristics and the external environment, such as parents 'parenting style, disturbance of the surrounding environment, food allergies and other factors.
Mothers need to find out the cause of their baby's insomnia and then prescribe the right medicine.
1. If your baby's insomnia is not frequent, but it is just a nightmare or insomnia caused by tension, mothers can gently pat the baby to relax and slowly fall asleep.
2. Infants have a slow sleep pattern, requiring assistance from their parents to transition from light sleep to deep sleep after approximately 20 minutes of dozing.
Many parents have this experience: their baby seems to be asleep, but as soon as they put them down, they wake up crying.
This is because he has not yet entered deep sleep, and still needs more nursing, soothing, rocking, or gentle shaking.
3. After a cycle of sleep for the baby, waking up is a normal phenomenon.
If you are not hungry or urinating, you usually exercise a little before moving to the next sleep cycle.
However, if the baby has developed the habit of being hugged, patted, shaken or holding a nipple (nipple) before falling asleep, he wakes up at night and finds that the situation is different from when he fell asleep, and cries until he meets the requirements. This phenomenon is called "sleeping conditions."
4. Babies aged 3-4 months can be given more positive stimulation during the day, such as talking, touching, and playing, and gradually stop nursing at night (including artificial feeding).
This will help develop your baby's good work rest and eating habits.
Some parents think that the baby's crying at night must be because of hunger, so they are busy feeding. As a result, when the baby falls asleep again, his digestive system has to "work overtime", causing increased urination and other conditions, making the baby wake up again.
5. Some children have difficulty falling asleep because parents have not created conditions for them to sleep quietly.
For example, the lights in the room are very bright and parents are still working and talking in the room after the children go to bed. Parents must pay attention to creating an environment suitable for them to sleep.
6. Storytelling. Parents tell their children stories before going to bed. It is an effective hypnotic method. Try not to let their children play on the computer and watch TV, etc. This will stimulate the child's brain and make him more excited and lead to insomnia.
7. If your child suffers from insomnia, try to treat insomnia in the acute stage.
Avoid habitual insomnia.
For insomnia caused by psychological factors, in addition to eliminating negative factors as soon as possible, children should also be given sufficient explanation, guarantees and other psychological support to help children improve their emotions.
Use some methods that help sleep, such as washing your face with hot water, soaking your feet, etc., making some preparations for sleep, telling your child relaxed stories or listening to relaxed music, under the guidance of a doctor, making some suggestions, relaxation therapies, etc., and try to make your child calm down and relax within half an hour before going to bed, which will help your child fall asleep... What should I eat for children with insomnia? If your child suffers from insomnia in children, mothers can give your baby some soothing food to help relieve insomnia in children.
1. Longan, also known as dragon eye, is believed by traditional Chinese medicine to benefit mental clarity and heart calmness, nourishing the blood and soothing the mind.
Modern research analysis, lychee contains glucose, sucrose, protein, vitamins, minerals, tartaric acid and so on.
The flesh is fresh to eat, soaked in wine or dry powder to take. It has a good effect on sleep.
2. Lotus seed, the fruit of lotus plant, contains starch, catechin, protein, calcium and phosphorus etc. Eating a bowl of lotus rice or drinking a bowl of lotus soup before sleeping can help people to fall asleep peacefully.
3. Hemp seeds, rich in linoleic acid and a variety of amino acids.
K, vitamins and other nutrients.
The rich vitamin B2 in sunflower seeds has the function of regulating metabolism of brain cells and inhibiting nerve centers.
Chew a handful of sunflower seeds every night for sleeping.
4. Daylily contains glutamic acid, lysine, phosphorus, iron, etc. Use it to make soup at dinner, or use 50 grams of daylily before going to bed to make people sleep well.
5. Milk, containing protein, cream, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin D, etc.
Milk is rich in tryptophan, which causes the human brain to secrete hypnotic serotonin.
Milk also contains trace amounts of morphine, which can calm the human brain.
Drinking a cup of hot milk at night can make you sleep peacefully.
6. Chicken egg yolks are also rich in protein, vitamin A, vitamin B, phosphorus, iron, etc. Serve eggs for dinner, or eat a boiled egg before going to bed, which can calm the mind, nourish and hypnotize the mind.
7. Litchi. Litchi tastes sweet and slightly sour and mild.
The "Compendium of Materia Medica" describes it as having the effects of calming the mind, inducing wisdom, and fortifying qi. It is also said to nourish the blood and generate fluids.
Litchi is rich in glucose, sucrose, vitamins C, B and A, as well as citric acid, folic acid, malic acid and free amino acids. It is an excellent remedy for those who are overly worried or have trouble sleeping. Fresh consumption is preferred.
Walnuts, with their high nutritional value, can rival 2500 grams of eggs or 4500 grams of milk in terms of nutrition for a 500-gram walnut kernel. The fat, calcium, and phosphorus content ranks among the top among fruits.
Eating a few walnut kernels before bed can help calm the mind, enhance memory and intelligence, and regulate the breathing.
The medical content mentioned in this text is for reference only.
In the event of discomfort, it is recommended to seek medical attention immediately. The diagnosis and treatment should be based on a face-to-face consultation with a medical practitioner.