Insomnia

For Ashton Smither, last night was just like the night before…and countless nights before that. Smither suffers from insomnia, an increasingly common disorder among young people. But tonight will be different – Smither will spend it in a sleep lab, where doctors hope to determine what’s causing her restless nights.

As her father, Sean Smither explains, “We noticed basically that she was being very irritable during the day. Very tired. We noticed that she was getting up a lot during the night, too.”

A recent study by the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit tracked more than 1,000 teens, and discovered that more than one-third had recurrent or chronic insomnia — trouble sleeping at least two nights a week for a month or more.

Insomnia in kids can have a number of causes, says Dr. Jeffrey Durmer, a sleep program director at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “Loud snoring at night, which is a regular occurrence, could be related to sleep-disordered breathing, or sleep apnea. It could be related to hormonal fluctuations at that time.”

For other kids, insomnia can simply be the result of family or school worries, or just too much to do and too little time.

“If you don’t have a regular bedtime and a regular schedule that you adhere to,” says Dr. Durmer, “it predisposes you to having bouts of insomnia.”

Dr. Durmer says that’s why parents should do everything they can to wind down their kids’ activities as bedtime approaches. “Things like television, radios, activities on computers and games that maintain alertness and awareness. Those are things you want to get out of bedtime. . .around an hour before bedtime.”

In Smither’s case, her insomnia wasn’t caused by late-night activities, snoring or stress, but a lesser-known condition called “restless leg syndrome” — pain and twitching in the leg that leads to insomnia. With medication and her doctors’ guidance, Ashton is improving.

“They’ve given us the advice to structure her sleep time and get the rest of the family structured as well,” says her father, “and that’s really helped.”

By Larry Eldridge, Jr.
CWK Network, Inc.

Childhood insomnia may keep many parents up at night, worrying about their child’s sleeplessness. If your child suffers from insomnia, he/she is not alone. Consider the following facts provided by Dr. Vijai P. Sharma:

• There are three types of insomnia: 
  • “Initial” insomnia – occurs after turning out the lights; generally takes longer than 30 minutes before a person can fall asleep. 
  • “Middle” insomnia – occurs after going to sleep; a person has difficulty maintaining sleep and remains awake for more than 30 minutes before the morning waking time. 
  • “Late” or “terminal” insomnia – premature awakening in the morning with less than six-and-a-half hours of sleep. 
• One-third of adults are either “short sleepers” — needing four to five hours of sleep — or “long sleepers” — needing nine to 10 hours of sleep.
• A minimum of six-and-a-half hours of sleep is considered a standard requirement. Two-thirds of adults report between seven to eight-and-a-half hours of sleep per night. However, some people may need more or fewer hours of sleep. 

Two main conditions contribute to childhood insomnia – depression and stress. If your child is suffering from insomnia, be aware of the following list of habits that may be contributing to your child’s insomnia. This list was developed by Mind Publications:

• Going to bed when he/she is wide awake and his/her body and mind do not want anything to do with sleeping. This can be physically and mentally frustrating.
• Staying in bed awake too long, even though he/she can’t fall sleep. The mind is more alert/awake when it is thinking, problem-solving or worrying. 
• Lying in bed awake and trying harder and harder to go to sleep. This only increases anxiety and frustration – and that makes the sleeping problem worse. 
• Oversleeping on weekday mornings or sleeping in on weekends. This may not be a problem for most people, but it has a harmful effect on a person with insomnia. 
• Reading a book or watching television in bed. For some people, reading or watching TV induces sleep. But if your child does not fall asleep within 30 minutes, it can make the sleep problem worse. 
• Falling asleep in places other than bed (such as the couch). If this happens regularly, your child gets out of the habit of sleeping in bed.

In order to overcome long-term insomnia, experts at Mind Publications emphasize that your child will need to replace bad habits (above) with good sleeping habits, such as the ones listed below: 

• Avoid caffeine, in any form, four to six hours before bedtime (chocolate, colas, tea). 
• Avoid nicotine near bedtime and upon waking during the night.
• Avoid a heavy meal in the evening. On the other hand, a light snack before bedtime may be sleep-inducing. 
• Avoid vigorous exercise within three to four hours of bedtime. On the other hand,
  regular exercise in the late afternoon may deepen sleep. 
• Reduce noise, light and excessive temperature during sleep by using earplugs, window blinds, electrical blanket, air conditioner, etc. 
• Spend no more than eight hours in bed per night. 
• Avoid napping. If your child must take a daytime nap, it should be for less than an hour and should be completed before 3 p.m. 
• Go to bed only when sleepy. 
• Get out of bed when unable to fall asleep for more than 30 minutes and return to bed within 30 minutes. During this time, your child should do only a manual activity or count breaths while breathing abdominally. He/she should repeat this procedure as often as necessary. 
• Wake at the same time every morning. 
• Practice relaxation techniques. 
• Do not use the bed or bedroom for non-sleeping activities, such as eating, talking on phone, homework, etc. Bed/bedroom should be used for sleeping purposes only.

National Center on Sleep Disorders Research
SleepNet
Mind Publications