Many children have sleep disorders that interrupt their lives, and those of their parents and siblings as well. A child sleep disorder can make life very difficult and interfere with the necessities of life. Parents who worry about the child sleep disorders in their family might rest assured that they are not alone. Many parents face similar problems. One of the main child sleep disorders that parents face is a child cannot sleep through the night. Most parents do not want their child to be awake in the middle of the night by themselves so that this problem can affect their sleep as well.
The problems with some children are just part of their makeup because they do not sleep well through the night. Adults and children have sleep cycles that go between deep sleep and light sleep. The deep sleep cycle is when a person dreams. During the light sleep cycle, the child is more likely to wake up. Since each person goes through several of these cycles during the night, there are several times during the night when the child sleep disorder might occur. Infants do not usually sleep through the night for some time. These small babies have a light sleep cycle every fifty minutes. Parents of infants all know that this is the case, and they work to get their child on the proper sleep cycle.
A Child Sleep Disorder Can Interrupt the Necessary Amount of Sleep
Children need much more sleep than adults although sometimes they want to stay up as long as their parents stay awake. A child needs between nine and twelve hours of sleep every night. They need at least nine hours to be ready to participate properly in school activities. Many children do not get this amount of sleep, and many of these do not do as well in school because of this. Children who are getting enough sleep will wake up easily. Having trouble getting children to wake up is a sign that more sleep is needed.
Children should also be able to fall asleep quickly. If they toss and turn for more than thirty minutes before they fall asleep, there is some problem. Children should be able to stay awake throughout the day if they are getting enough, proper sleep at night. Adequate sleep is important for child development and ability to learn.
The informative article Children and Sleep by the National Sleep Foundation includes recommendations for sleep duration by age.
https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/children-and-sleep
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