Poor sleep may be a cause for ADHD
I have already mentioned in previous posts that the symptoms of sleep disorders may be misdiagnosed as ADHD. We all know that when our kids are exhausted they don’t typically act like we do as adults. Where we would be exhausted, they might have the opposite reaction and become overly excited and active. Those children also have extreme difficulties turning there “on” button to an “off” position when it comes to lying down and actually falling asleep.
There hasn’t been enough evidence to completely link the two together as a whole, but there is enough research out there to prove that sleep loss on a daily basis can affect a child’s ability to learn which could lead to ADHD like symptoms. ADHD is one of the most prevalent problems today and numerous sources suggest that 25-50% of those children suffer from some type of sleep disorder. Improving the sleep disorder could help decrease the symptoms of ADHD.
The prevalence of sleep disorders is becoming such a phenomenon that pediatricians are becoming more aware that this can be an issue with children. The difficult part is figuring out what kind of sleep disorder your child has. There are three different categories that pediatric sleep disorders have been classified into which are dyssomnias, parasomnias, and medical-psychiatric disorders.
These categories might not mean much to a lay person but through my research I found the “BEARS” sleep screen might be something that every parent can relate to. (found in Judith Owens MD MPH The ABC’s of ZZZ’s: Common Sleep Disorders in Children)
- Bedtime problems
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Awakenings during the night
- Regularity and duration of sleep
- Snoring
If your child has any of the above symptoms then you also might want to look at the overall picture and how this can be really affecting your child. There is a high correlation with sleeping disorders and ADHD (like I mentioned in the last post). The correlation is so prevalent that there are some studies debating what is causing what. Is it the ADHD that is causing the sleep disorder or vice-versa? A good percentage of these children with sleep disorders are also known to have conduct problems in school or aggressive behavior, not to mention depression and self esteem issues. Of course , there is also the concern of the overall affects of the immune system with sleep disorders.
It would be safe to say that I fully support sleep studies for children if they have any of the above symptoms. It may make a significant impact on both your child’s and families life.
I never knew there was such a phenomenon of children having issues with sleeping. That is before I had my second child. I always thought that all kids slept wonderful after 6-10 wks of age. Did I need a wake up call or what? Did you know that over 30% of children have been diagnosed with some type of sleeping disorder?
Yes, there are more than one type of sleeping disorders with children. Some can be a bit alarming when witnessing them.
Sleep Terrors are interesting in the fact that they make you feel like something is psychologically wrong with your child, when really there is nothing wrong at all. My daughter did experience these for a short period of time. I wanted to video tape her and send it to a psychologist. It was the most bizarre thing I had ever seen.
Sleep Apnea is probably one of the most common sleep disorders. It is usually caused by enlarged tonsils and/or adnoids. Something I didn’t know was the effect this can have on your child during school. They aren’t getting the required sleep they need because they don’t reach the adequate amount of REM sleep. They usually are falling asleep in class and have difficult paying attention. In fact, sometimes these kids are misdiagnosed with ADHD. However, as for my son, enlarged tonsils or adnoids may not be causing the sleep apnea. This is a situation where surgery is not a quick fix.
Bedwetting is also a type of sleeping disorder with kids. Another new piece of information I learned because although I knew it occurred, I never knew it was a diagnosed sleep disorder.
Restless Leg Syndrome can also occur with children although it isn’t as common. This is very similar to sleep apnea in the fact that they don’t get enough REM sleep because they are constantly waking up throughout the night.
Some children just have a hard time falling asleep because they are too worried about the everyday events that occur. Also there are many disorders that prevent childen from actually being able to fall asleep. Refer to this article for all the signs and symptoms for sleeping disorders in children.
A good bedtime routine is never a bad idea but sometimes no matter what you do, your child isn’t getting a good night’s rest. It is something that I never thought to tell my pediatrician until I had what you call a lightbulb moment. I know when I am lacking sleep, I am very sensitive and overly grumpy. Why couldn’t this be what my son’s problem is?
When I addressed the problem with my pediatrician, she thought a sleep study was a must in the full spectrum of his symptoms. Just an idea to inform people that children should be sleeping at least 10 hours a night and if they aren’t discuss it with your pediatrician. They might have a sleeping disorder.
The effects of birth order on our children’s personality are pretty amazing. I never used to believe this before I had multiple children, but I see proof in the effects almost on a daily basis. Is it because of what we expect out of our children or is it truly because of their birth order?
I am always expecting my oldest to help me out. Does this mold her personality into someone who wants to be a team player or am I driving her away from ever wanting to be a mother herself? I don’t mean to have such high expectations from her but as the oldest I want her to set the best example. From the very beginning of bringing her little brother home, I wanted her to be a part of helping take care of him. She wasn’t even two years old and I was asking her to help bring mommy a diaper and teaching her how to swaddle her baby doll. These were just things that I wanted to do to help her adapt to not being the only child in the family. I wanted to make her feel important but was I really changing her personality?
When I go back and think about what I did when my third child was born, I am a little shocked. Again, I expected some help from my daughter who at that time was not even three and a half years old. The expectations were not much but were there none the less. However, my first son was only 16months old and I didn’t expect anything from him. I didn’t obviously ask him to get involve in the care of his new baby brother and to him it seemed like nothing changed in his life. He was still the same child he had always been.
My last child ( I am not going to lie he was a great baby) but has given me a run for my money as he turned into the 3-4 years of age. He is a dare devil that wants to make sure I know every little thing that he does. Is this because he is the baby or because he knew he was such a good baby and wants to keep me on my toes now?
To see all characteristics of each birth order, I found this article pretty interesting: www.birthorderandpersonality.com. See what you find in common with your family.
Moms also need rest
Do you ever feel like sometimes you never really get a good night’s rest? It seems like moms never win. There is always something that occurs that might interrupt your good night’s sleep.
Personally, it might be because I work nights but I know I hear all types of women out there complaining that they are tired. Why is that?
It could be because we try to do so much during the day. It could be because when we do finally get to go out and enjoy ourselves for the night one of our children wakes us up in the middle of the night and then wakes us up bright and early. It could be that we are too concerned with the health of our children and family, that we are not really taking care of ourselves.
Whatever the reason is, it truly seems like sometimes we just don’t get a break. Do you agree?
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Are video games affecting our kids negatively?
If any of you have children ranging from the age of 5 and up, you probably have started to experience what it feels like to watch your child change personalities in appoximately 2 minutes. On one hand you have your child occupied with something longer that 5 minutes and maybe you might actually get something done without an interruption but then on the other hand you have something that will completely changed your everyday child into a zombie like creature. Is it just your child or can these games change the way a child acts?
Research has proven that an increase in heart rate and blood pressure occur while a person plays video games. Additionally, prefrontal lobe activity is lowered during game play. These increases could well be the cause for the shifts in attitude. The cause for the hostile behavior and emotionality can easily be explained by these physical changes.
The research on the degree of the impact on the player after they stop playing is still in its early stages. Further analysis is still needed. There are a lot of new brain studies being conducted in this niche of psychology. If you are interested in more, consider reading the article that discusses the effects of video games on the brain – and how men are more likely to get addicted to playing than women. There has been other research showing that video games affect brains and activate the parts of the brain that control emotional arousal and inhibition.
So I am wondering, can my children just play a short amount of time and not impact their behavior as strongly?
If you are debating the same question then check out this article that debates how long should children play video games. It states that most youth exceed the American Medical Association recommendation of one to two hours of total screen time per day, which includes gaming, TV viewing or web surfing.
What indicates a problem has more to do with how they use video games -if they think about gaming instead of other things, or use games to manage their emotions.
Parents should be especially alarmed if their child plays for long, uninterrupted stretches and finds it difficult to cut down or stop.
This definitely makes me more aware of the time frame. What are your thoughts?
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Darcy Osborne: Mother, RN, Creator of OZzzz's Sleep Aid for Children
We gave birth to our second child and it was a boy. Everything seemed to go perfectly in the delivery. We finally had the American dream: a boy and a girl. We brought our baby boy home and things began to change. He was completely different from my daughter, from inconsolable crying to not being able to lie down for more than thirty minutes at a time. I often kept telling myself that this is a phase and will soon end; however, this became our life and my whole family was exhausted.
When he was three years old, I decided to finally sit down and talk to my pediatrician. He had improved on the screaming during the night but was still waking up anywhere from two to nine times in the night. Now during the day, he would have tantrum after tantrum. I was still exhausted and sick of people staring at me wanting me to have some control over my son. I felt like a horrible mother that had no control over her life. I was determined to figure out what was wrong with my son. Why was he not sleeping? Did he have something wrong with him and he could not communicate to us what was hurting him?
I expressed all these concerns with our pediatrician and she, too wanted to get to the bottom of this. After a trail of tests, we discovered he had a sleeping disorder. Through this process, our pediatrician recommended trying melatonin. This is how we got to this point in our lives.
As a RN who works nights, I realize how important a good night’s rest is. Also as a RN, I know the effects on your body from continually not getting enough sleep. My son was not getting this. I was focused on coming up with a formula that was in a child friendly version. Working closely with an experienced pediatrician and a FDA GMP certified lab that tests all raw materials for quality and purity, we came up with OZzzz’s. We learned that most nutraceutical products and dietary supplements only follow the minimum manufacturing standards required by the FDA, but we insisted that OZzzz’s Sleep Aid for Children be manufactured in a GMP certified pharmaceutical facility. Since we would be giving this to our own children and other parents would be using OZzzz’s on their children, quality and safety was our highest concern.
OZzzz's Sleep Aid For Children
The first dose my son fell asleep within thirty minutes and slept the entire night. He woke up in a great mood and remained that way the entire day. As a mother, I could not have asked for anything else. Within the first week we noticed such a difference in our son that we knew we had to get our story out.
You can learn about OZzzz’s Sleep Aid For Children at our site and if you are ready to purchase, you can do so here. You can also sign up for email updates when new posts are posted here. Thanks for listening to our story. Please share your story with us!