Sleep Disorders In Children, Babies and Toddlers

Is one of the common types of sleep disorders in children troubling your toddler or baby? Recognise and treat night terrors, sleepwalking, bedwetting, narcolepsy and sleep apnea in children and babies early on.

There are two types of sleep disorders you may see in your baby or toddler: behavioural sleep problems (baby learning to sleep well) and primary sleep disorders (truly disrupting sleep).

Behavioural sleep problems

Behavioural sleep problems are the most common and harmless type of childhood sleep disorders: difficulty falling asleep or self soothing, difficulty staying asleep or sleeping through the night and unnecessary frequent night awakenings.

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We usually do not think of these as true sleep disorders, because they are a normal phase in child / baby development. But, they can disrupt your family life quite badly and, without good guidance, a child may grow into a lifetime of poor sleep, leading to poor health.

That's why it is so important for us to gently guide our baby or toddler towards good sleep. Baby Sleep Advice is dedicated to give all the help, tips and support you need: you can start at any of these sections:

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Primary sleep disorders in children

There are only a number of sleep disorders young children may have.

Night terrors / Sleep terrors, children bedwetting (nocturnal enuresis), sleep walking (somnambulism) and sleep talking (somniloquy) are the so-called parasomnia. They are almost always due to immature development and most children grow out of them without treatment.

Sleep apnea in children and babies and narcolepsy are less common but more serious sleep disorders and usually require medical treatment.

See the list of sleep disorders for clarifying definitions of each primary sleep disorder.

When you suspect that your child has a primary sleep disorder, it is important to recognise it through a sleep disorder evaluation of sleep disorder symptoms and then to find a correct remedy or treatment.