The Zen of Sleep : The Exhausted Parent's Guide To Sleepless Nights

It's every parent's nightmare: the child who won't sleep. After they've finished a marathon racing up and down the stairs, built and knocked down pillow forts, careened close to traffic on their three-wheelers--after they've done all they could to make you pull your hair out--as the last straw, their frenetic days turn into sleepless nights. And you have tried everything--warm milk, lullabies, threats of no morning cartoons--but they keep on going, throwing away not just their sleep but yours also. You've had it . You're asking why you deserve this? Is this the revenge your mother always said you would have as a parent? Is this some sort of test of your love, to extend it past the limits of sanity into twilight hours?

But maybe this is not normal. Maybe this is just as unwanted by your child as it is for you. Maybe this is juvenile onset insomnia.

The symptoms are simple but can be easily dismissed as youthful stubbornness: difficulty going to and staying asleep, severe emotional sensitivity during the day and loss of appetite. The results are similar to those of adults with the condition, but are likely to be read as typical childhood behavior. What eight year old wants to go to bed at nighttime? But a handful of children are affected by insomnia. However, the root cause is likely to be a high metabolism rather than the stressful triggers that stop adults from sleeping. Nevertheless, it is imperative that children be screened for anxiety disorders as well as depression if they show symptoms of insomnia.

Outside of these natural causes of sleepless nights, consideration needs to be given to external influences that could impact on your child's sleeping patterns. We all know sugar and stimulants are no good for us, but do you find yourself giving in and allowing your child to have a few sips of soda, a few bites of a candy bar, as a treat during the day? Even in small amounts, caffeine and sugar can set off a metabolic switch that will steer your child's biological rhythms off track. As careful as we are, deceptive sources can become sleep-destroying substances, such as the caffeine found in dark chocolates and the sugar that is constantly dumped into processed food, even fruit packs we buy from the supermarket. When unsuret about a food, check with your physician to see if it could be a culprit.

Another external influence that can be adjusted is the amount of television and computer time your child gets during the evening. These can overstimulate the mind and make it difficult for a child to fall asleep. More than that, studies have found that the artificial light from screens affects the body's production of melatonin (a naturally occurring hormone released when the sun goes down to induce sleep). It would be wise to limit access to media after dusk and encourage the body's normal rhythms remain uninhibited.

So what else can you do? After searching the whole house for stimulants and reducing the amount of computer time--what is to be done if your child is still struggling with sleepless nights? Look for natural methods that avoid prescription therapy, such as herbs, melatonin, soothing music, audio stories and the gentle pastime of reading a good story following a nice, warm evening bath to help your child's body and mind to relax.

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