Children Sleeping Problems

For infants who are one week old, the average length of sleep per day is 16 hours. This is not to say that every child sleeps this much, to some parents; dismay! Some babies suffer from colic, hunger, or may be teething. Some people believe that babies who sleep less are geniuses or have a higher I.Q. Although there is no scientific evidence to support this claim. Newborn babies usually wake about once every three hours in order to be fed. It is fairly uncommon for newborns to have insomnia unless they are suffering from colic or some other health problem. When older children are not getting enough sleep it is usually the parents who are to blame. The most common cause of children not getting enough sleep is that they go to bed too late. Parents often underestimate the amount of sleep their kids need or have a hard time setting bed times. It may also be because children have too much homework or participate in extracurricular activities that take up too much of their time and they cannot get to bed at a decent hour. Children between 6 and 12 need a minimum of ten hours of sleep per night and children that are in their teens need about 9 hours of sleep. If parents are not to blame and the child still has poor sleeping patterns, stress, asthma, eczema, anxiety, or depression may be to blame.

Aside from medications, there are numerous things that you can do to help your child sleep. You can start by trying simple solutions such as limiting time in bed to sleeping only instead of letting your child read, play, or watch tv. You can also ensure your child is on a consistent sleep and wake cycle which lets their body naturally adjust to these patterns. Astronutrition also provides a natural sleep aid for children over the age of two which will relieve restless sleeping patterns.