Separation Anxiety is the Main Cause of Sleep Disorders in Children

Children to have occasional nightmares and fears that surface at bedtime are not an unusual act.

Children during emotionally sensitive periods in their lives often experience anxiety.

The most cited distressing period for a child include the first days of daycare or nursery school.

Kids experience some type of separation anxiety as they’re left off at school. Such anxieties often surface at bedtime, when the child is lying quietly in bed.

The signs of these anxieties are strange noises, monsters, and the dark. Accordingly, children may have trouble falling asleep. They may get out of bed and tell you that they are scared or ask for another bedtime story.

They may refuse to sleep alone or may resist going to bed altogether. These are normal consequences resulting in normal anxieties experienced by small children.

Often these bedtime difficulties can be resolved without professional help. The following are some steps for reducing separation anxiety in children.

Reassurance

Parents can talk to their children about the issues responsible for their anxiety. Sometimes, it is just simple reassurance, which is required. The child might need to hear that Mommy or Daddy will pick them up after school or daycare.

A few extra minutes comforting a child at bedtime may also provide him with the required security for a peaceful bedtime.

And, sometimes, child may require more than a little reassurance. The anxieties may be more difficult to diffuse if a child’s fear is deeply rooted, or if a child refuses to talk to his parents.

In some cases the fears at night are so great that it is essential to take the child to a doctor trained in pediatric sleep disturbances. [Baby Sleep Problems]

Behaviors

Pediatric sleep experts advise that in the younger child, problems arise from bad habits forming around falling asleep both at the beginning of the night, as well as after waking up in the middle of the night, and with excessive feedings at night.

In the middle of the night, all infants and children wake up, which is a of their normal sleep behavior. The problem occurs when the child is unable to fall back to sleep. Some children when they wake up at night may cry out.

A baby who falls asleep being rocked in a chair may wake up when placed in her crib. A child who always falls asleep having his back rubbed will later be unable to fall asleep without having his back rubbed.

When a child is habituated to falling asleep in the parent’s arms or along with parents, then they may have difficulty falling back to sleep when they wake up in the middle of the night and find himself or herself alone in the bed.

These types of behavioral sleep problems are easy to correct within a few weeks.

Consistent Limits

Problems are generally related to the parents’ being inconsistent in setting limits in the child who has graduated out of a crib and into a bed. Nighttime fears may play a role in the child’s sleep problems, but fears are generally a very small part of the problem.

Falling asleep at bedtime is one of the main problems in this age group. This child asks for another story, one more glass of milk, etc. The child learns to keep asking if the parent gives in to the child’s request.

Therefore, it is of significant for parents to set proper and consistent limits for the children. Child will probably stick to rules and go to sleep, once the child understands the rules.