Question

discuss sleep problems of early childhood such as nightmaress, night terrors and somnambulism in not less than 250 words.

Answer 1

Sleep problems are one of the most common problems faced by children, during age of 2-8 years. Parents often go to physicians and psychologists complaining about the sleep related problems that their child is facing. There are different sleep patterns during different stages of development, a small infant usually wakes up after every 2 hours in night, but if same pattern is seen in 3 year old child it will be considered abnormal. By age of 3 months most children sleep for 5-6 hours after that there is a cycle of regular waking up at night. With increase in age there is also increase in REM (Rapid Eye Movement). Nightmares are scary and disturbed dream pattern that occur during REM sleep. A child who gets nightmare can awaken at night terrifying in shock. Nightmares usually occur because of stress, or child has seen some movie or television program containing frightening or aggressive content. If nightmares not occur frequently they are not alarming but if they are occurring on regular intervals than parents should concern the physician.

Somnambulism is an activity where child often wakes up in night and started walking around, also known as sleep walking. Sometimes child only sit-up with open eyes and sometimes they just walk here and there. Child with this problem has maximum chances of hurting themselves during their activity, since they can fall from stairs or hit their head to walls.

Night-terror is another sleep problem that is often observed in children. In night terrors child usually suddenly wakes up in stress after sleep. Child screams and appears frightened, with a rapid heart rate, sweating, and rapid breathing. The child seems to be unaware of the parents' presence, may thrash around violently and does not respond to comforting, and may talk but be unable to answer questions. This problem is usually occurs with sleep walk.

Bed wetting or nocturnal enuresis is another problem faced by children. In enuresis child either never stops bed-wetting or may start this after one year of continence. Enuretic children have been found to have a lower functional bladder capacity. Parents often believe that there is no major problem and try different things like limiting intake of fluids in the evening and waking the child to use the bathroom before the parent goes to bed.