Attn parents: Sleep disturbance in children can be an underlying emotional distress

New Delhi: Children of different age groups, including toddlers and preschoolers, suffer from anxiety, which severely affects their sleep patterns. Unfortunately, such children are unable to express their problems, including sleep disturbances, which signal underlying emotional distress.

Sleep is essential to support the growth and development of children. The frequent disruption in the sleep of the children in early stages can delay their growth and development.

Separation anxiety in children in the 1-3 age group can lead to bedtime resistance, night-wakings, and crying, while children from the age of 4 to 6 experience complex problems, including nightmares, sleepwalking, and sleep tremors.

Common sleep disruptions in children

Around 20-30% of children experience sleep problems due to anxiety. This can affect the brain development, emotional regulation, and learning capacity.

Dr Harshini Yerraballi, interventional pulmonologist and sleep specialist at Sleep Therapeutics Clinic, Kikapally, said, “Commonly, children in the lower age group feel the lack of parental attention and feeling for securedness would be missing for the children, which are the basic causes for sleep issues”.

When children have problems like tonsils or adenoids, sleep issues are bound to occur. This leads to the children suffering from interrupted sleep at night time, leading to long-term consequences on the personal and intellectual development of the children.

Sleep apnea in children

Sleep apnea or obstructive sleep apnea affects such children, and this condition results in the child's stopping to breathe temporarily due to the blockage in the upper airways, due to enlarged tonsils and adenoids.

“Such children will breathe through their mouths at night time and will be characterized by snoring. They usually wake up multiple times during sleep. They will be dull at day time, lose focus on academics and extracurricular activities, and have memory issues. Another important impact is on the creativity of children due to lack of growth”, Dr Harshini added.

Reduce sugar intake, aerated drinks

Other factors for the anxiety among children include pressure and stress due to comparison with other children, lack of proper lifestyle including lack of physical activity, longer use of mobile phones, excessive consumption of chocolates, ice cream, and refined sugar.

Dr Harshini said that higher consumption of sugar at night can lead to sugar spikes, and children become restless and lose sleep.

“Children from class 1 to 7 also suffer from such challenges. The parents must ensure that children are screened for obstructive sleep patterns, follow sleep hygiene, avoid tea, coffee and aerated drinks, lower sugar intake and have good physical activity”, she said.

Drug use and mobile use affecting adolescents

Children in the adolescent age group suffer from similar issues faced by their younger counterparts, along with the use and abuse of drugs.

“Adolescents get used to consuming alcohol, smoking, dating and drugs at a very young age. Unfortunately some parents are in favour of such activities. Substance abuse can have a telling impact on the disrupted sleep pattern of this age group. Some may lose sleep due to hormonal changes, but appropriate intervention can help in overcoming the problem”, Dr Harshini said.