SubscribeLet’s Talk Some More About Sleep! This Time It’s About Kids.
As luck would have it, I came across four different articles on sleep and kids in just a few days. So here you go.
Sleep problems common in children with ADHD
Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) appear likely to experience sleep problems ….Sleep problems affected 175 (73.3 percent) of the children, with a 28.5 percent prevalence of mild sleep problems and 44.8 percent prevalence of moderate or severe sleep problems.
Children’s sleep disturbances associated with certain parenting behaviors
Parental strategies that were effective for early sleep difficulties (e.g. giving food or drink) may later become inappropriate to the child’s age and needs. Mothers might adopt the inappropriate response of giving food or drink to 29- to 41-month-old children awakening (which is associated with bad dreams and shorter total sleep time at age 50 months) because they commonly attribute infant cries to hunger and come to believe that infants cry only when hungry,’
Child sleep problems linked to later behavioral difficulties
Children who sleep less may be more likely to report symptoms of anxiety, depression and aggression later in life ….’The results suggest that children reported to sleep for short periods may be at risk for later difficulties,’ the authors conclude.
Less sleep, more TV leads to overweight infants and toddlers
Infants and toddlers who sleep less than 12 hours a day are twice as likely to become overweight by age 3 than children who sleep longer. In addition, high levels of television viewing combined with less sleep elevates the risk, so that children who sleep less than 12 hours and who view two or more hours of television per day have a 16 percent chance of becoming overweight by age 3.
It all underscores the importance of setting up good sleep habits at the earliest possible age. It’s also worth noting that “overweight” in reference to kids actually means “obese”. The overweight kids are labeled as “at risk for overweight”. So first, put the little ones to bed, then get yourself to bed. It’s one of the most important things that you can do for your health and for the health of your child.
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- Other Stuff You'll Enjoy:
- Children and Sleep
- TV and Behavior in Children
- Childhood Obesity and Sleep
- Sleeping Less Means Gaining More Weight
- Overweight Mothers and Kids with ADD
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Filed in Sleep and Stress One Response so far
sarena on 15 Apr 2008 at 8:08 am #
As a parent of 4, two still teens and 2 in their 20s, I can say sleep is an ongoing “issue”!! It was awesome when they were younger, especially with the first 2. bedtime wsa somewhere between 6-7pm. Then as the family grew and their were “older” kids around, it was challenging to get the younger ones in bed. BTW, their ages are all within 8 years.
Now, with just a 17 yo at home, I am the one who goes to sleep first! Bedtime for me generally averages between 10-11. On those rare nights, I am in at 9 or 930, my daughter remarks that adults just dont go to bed so early!!
But I do admit my kids are all fit and slim. Most are somewhat active too. Boys played basketball, girls it was swim and dance! And they are still at their chosen sports except the oldest who is a new Daddy and is quite busy in school. He has gym equipment in his house though which he uses!