When Crying it Out Doesn't Work, You May Be Dealing with a Sleep Disorder

Sleep disorders can be classified into 2 categories - those where you feel tired and sleepy all the time, and those where you have trouble falling asleep. The important time to diagnose and treat these problems is in infancy. If your child is fighting bedtime or waking repeatedly at night, then you need to know if this is a medical, or a parenting problem. To do so, read on.

Sleep disorders in children can present in very different ways, and because the field of sleep medicine is a very new one, many of these children will never be properly diagnosed and treated. Here is how to avoid that when your child presents with problems falling asleep and staying asleep.

If you have a child who fights bedtime or wakes repeatedly at night, past the time when feedings require it, then tell your pediatrician. Any child should be able to sleep more than 6 hours at night, past the age of 8 months, as long as no other medical problems are present.

Assess your child for breathing problems - by far, the most common cause of sleep disorders. Do they breathe noisily at night? Do they breathe with their mouth open? Do they drool when asleep? Do they wake up needing something to drink because they have dry mouth? Are they restless sleepers who kick the covers off? All of these, along with fighting sleep, can be signs you are dealing with a sleep disorder which is causing insomnia in your child. Crying it out won't work, because letting a child cry increases anxiety and this worsens insomnia.

Yes, you can train your child to be more comfortable sleeping with you, but a tired child who sleeps normally will not be able to stay up all night just to be with you. Normal children will fall asleep, whereas children suffering from insomnia due to a sleep disorder will spend all their effort waking you to spend time with them. They will seem to sleep better in your bed, because having you near decreases anxiety and lessens difficulty falling asleep. Also, studies show children will repeatedly wake while sleeping with you, but be able to eventually fall back to sleep without help, something they couldn't do in their own bed.

Children with difficulty breathing, even mild difficulty, won't be able to sleep normally. If your child has allergies, mouth breathes, has a history of being born premature, or has any other medical diagnosis that leads to difficult breathing, then their "bad sleep habits" may actually be signs of a sleep disorder. Take them to your pediatrician and demand an evaluation. It's estimated that over 90% of sleep disorders go undiagnosed and untreated. Do not let this happen to you. Demand to see a pediatric sleep specialist.

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