There may be many reasons why a child has difficulty sleeping at night, but two common causes are classified under a condition called behavioral insomnia of childhood. What are the symptoms and causes of difficulty falling asleep in children? Guardians especially might be interested in learning how bedtime routines can optimize sleep training in newborn infants, babies, toddlers, and even older kids.
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What Is Insomnia in Children?
The Symptoms of Insomnia in Children
Children who do not sleep enough begin to have behavioral and health problems.Imagine how you feel after a bad night of sleep—and then multiply it in magnitude without adequate coping skills or even ways to verbalize your frustrations. Children become cranky, refuse to cooperate with simple requests, cry more, and suffer from complete meltdowns and tantrums. Older children may begin to have problems at school, with poor attention, hyperactivity, and impaired school performance.
Beyond simply being unable to fall asleep, other aspects of behavior and evengrowthspiral out of control.
What Causes Insomnia in Children?
Infants should be put down when they are falling asleep, and preferably before they fall asleep. If every time the child falls asleep it is in a guardian’s arms, the child will cry if their guardian is not there when awakening. It can sometimes be helpful to transition the bed to a crib prior to the onset of sleep. Older children may wake at night and be able to soothe themselves back to sleep without requiring a feeding or diaper change. If crying persists, it can be helpful to follow the Ferber method of graduated extinction.In a nutshell, the amount of time spent waiting before responding to the crying child is gradually lengthened until the child no longer cries for assistance.
In toddlers, especially those who are able to verbalize their preferences, the incessant requests for another story, a favorite toy, a glass of water, a trip to the bathroom, etc. can be used to delay bedtime effectively. Older children may wake in the night and go to their guardians' bedroom. The child may insist on spending the rest of the night in their guardians' bed, and a sleepy guardian may reluctantly oblige the demand. If guardians are able to enforce strict rules and boundaries, these behaviors will gradually cease.
Rarely, children may have insomnia that requires additional evaluation and treatment.
How to Improve Insomnia in Children
When either of these behavioral problems occurs, the sleep of guardians may be greatly impacted as well. It often leads to significant distress within families, but thankfully the difficulties are readily addressed with simple changes related to each condition. The two types of behavioral insomnia can improve quickly with education and observation of consistent rules.
A Word From Verywell
If you are struggling, get the support that you need so that everyone in the house can sleep better. Our Doctor Discussion Guide below can help you start that conversation with a doctor to find the best treatment option.
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4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.UptoDate.Behavioral sleep problems in children.American Academy of Pediatrics. healthychildren.org.Healthy sleep habits: how many hours does your child need?Gradisar M, Jackson K, Spurrier NJ, et al.Behavioral Interventions for Infant Sleep Problems: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Pediatrics. 137(6). doi:10.1542/peds.2015-1486National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Melatonin: what you need to know.Additional ReadingDurmer, JS and Chervin, RD. “Pediatric sleep medicine.“Continuum. Neurol13(3):162.Mindell, JA and Owens, JA. “A clinical guide to pediatric sleep: diagnosis and management of sleep problems.” Philadelphia:Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.Spruyt, Ket al. “Odds, prevalence and predictors of sleep problems in school-age normal children.“J Sleep Res. 14(2):163-176.Touchette, Eet al. “Factors associated with fragmented sleep at night across early childhood.“Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med.159(3):242-249.
4 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.UptoDate.Behavioral sleep problems in children.American Academy of Pediatrics. healthychildren.org.Healthy sleep habits: how many hours does your child need?Gradisar M, Jackson K, Spurrier NJ, et al.Behavioral Interventions for Infant Sleep Problems: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Pediatrics. 137(6). doi:10.1542/peds.2015-1486National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Melatonin: what you need to know.Additional ReadingDurmer, JS and Chervin, RD. “Pediatric sleep medicine.“Continuum. Neurol13(3):162.Mindell, JA and Owens, JA. “A clinical guide to pediatric sleep: diagnosis and management of sleep problems.” Philadelphia:Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.Spruyt, Ket al. “Odds, prevalence and predictors of sleep problems in school-age normal children.“J Sleep Res. 14(2):163-176.Touchette, Eet al. “Factors associated with fragmented sleep at night across early childhood.“Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med.159(3):242-249.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
UptoDate.Behavioral sleep problems in children.American Academy of Pediatrics. healthychildren.org.Healthy sleep habits: how many hours does your child need?Gradisar M, Jackson K, Spurrier NJ, et al.Behavioral Interventions for Infant Sleep Problems: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Pediatrics. 137(6). doi:10.1542/peds.2015-1486National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Melatonin: what you need to know.
UptoDate.Behavioral sleep problems in children.
American Academy of Pediatrics. healthychildren.org.Healthy sleep habits: how many hours does your child need?
Gradisar M, Jackson K, Spurrier NJ, et al.Behavioral Interventions for Infant Sleep Problems: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Pediatrics. 137(6). doi:10.1542/peds.2015-1486
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Melatonin: what you need to know.
Durmer, JS and Chervin, RD. “Pediatric sleep medicine.“Continuum. Neurol13(3):162.Mindell, JA and Owens, JA. “A clinical guide to pediatric sleep: diagnosis and management of sleep problems.” Philadelphia:Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.Spruyt, Ket al. “Odds, prevalence and predictors of sleep problems in school-age normal children.“J Sleep Res. 14(2):163-176.Touchette, Eet al. “Factors associated with fragmented sleep at night across early childhood.“Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med.159(3):242-249.
Durmer, JS and Chervin, RD. “Pediatric sleep medicine.“Continuum. Neurol13(3):162.
Mindell, JA and Owens, JA. “A clinical guide to pediatric sleep: diagnosis and management of sleep problems.” Philadelphia:Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Spruyt, Ket al. “Odds, prevalence and predictors of sleep problems in school-age normal children.“J Sleep Res. 14(2):163-176.
Touchette, Eet al. “Factors associated with fragmented sleep at night across early childhood.“Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med.159(3):242-249.
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