Childhood sleep disorders

Sleep problems in children may differ in various ways from analogous problems in the adult. This is less because of neurophysiologic differences between the two groups than it is because of the child's greater level of dependency. Young children make few decisions on their own and, as a result, parent-child interactions become connected intimately to the child's sleep process at bedtime and throughout the night. Parental desires and expectations are at least as important as those of the child in determining the pattern of sleep that follows. Such interactions are most important when it comes to understanding causes of sleeplessness in the young child, and only by appreciating these interactions can the clinician serve a useful role in helping the family to understand and improve a young child's problematic sleep patterns.