Infant insomnia

Difficulty sleeping is a problem that affects between 5% and 10% of the general population and can disrupt, in addition to sleep, the lives of people, including children, who may also suffer from this disease.

How to identify the problem?

Infant insomnia can be characterized as initial when the child has difficulty falling asleep, or intermediate when the child's sleep is interrupted and the child cannot go back to sleep.

The problem is considered insomnia when at least one of the above situations recurs for a period of three weeks. In such cases, you need to seek expert help, as according to the Sleep Institute, "insomnia is the tip of a huge iceberg?" and it may be the sign that something is disturbing the child.

According to experts, insomnia should be analyzed under three aspects: physical, psychological and social. For children, difficulty sleeping may be related to physical problems such as allergies, reflux or some kind of inflammation; problems affecting the psychological, such as nightmares or fear; and social problems, such as lack of routine, the child's entry into school, the arrival of a sibling or even the separation of parents.

According to the phase in which the child is, childhood insomnia can be characterized as primary or secondary. Primary insomnia arises from the age of two months, because before that it is very difficult to characterize it by irregular sleep. Newborns sleep an average of 16 hours a day, considering that they wake up every three hours to feed. Some children have irregularities in these cycles, however, if the child often wakes up at night and cries, see a doctor, may be a sign of insomnia.

On the other hand, secondary insomnia manifests itself in children from the second year of life and who have already established an adequate sleep organization when they begin to wake up at night. The two-year-old needs 12 to 14 hours of sleep, including naps. Therefore, if the awakenings persist, look for a specialist.

What are the consequences of childhood insomnia?

According to medical experts, childhood insomnia leads to easy crying, irritability, moodiness, dependence on parents, dark circles and even possible growth problems, as growth hormone is produced during sleep. In addition, the problem leads to poor school performance, insecurity, shyness, relationship difficulties and loneliness.

What should parents do?

Once parents realize that something is wrong with their child's sleep, the pediatrician needs help so that they can diagnose their causes and develop treatment, which can be done with homeopathy or herbal medicines.

In addition, it is critical that parents rethink the environment in which the child is sleeping, as well as its routine. Agitated, fearful children who receive many stimuli before bedtime, such as television and other noise, or who do not have a routine, may have difficulty sleeping. In such cases, some simple measures may help. Try to talk to the little ones to reassure them, explain better about the nightmares and make it clear that sleeping alone is not a problem.

Another suggestion is to encourage the company of a stuffed animal or to put two brothers in the same room so that they can keep each other company. In addition, it is worth betting on the room lighting, which should be cozy and routine, necessary for young children. Establish a bedtime ritual, such as showering, dining, telling a story, and going to bed. If symptoms still persist, seeking a psychologist may help.

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