Carol Stovold Quality Kidz qualitykidz.co.nz

More studies around the world are finding that undisturbed sleep is increasingly vital for infants and young children for development of future health and learning. Sleep is a very important part of any child's early childhood education, and a great deal of learning takes place from an extremely young age while children have deep undisturbed REM sleep. Infant's brains are adapted to learn in ways not possible for older children or adults.

Children quickly establish sleeping habits which continue into later life. A University of Montreal study found that sleep patterns of infants aged from 29 to 41 months influenced how they would sleep as 4 to 6 year olds. Bad sleeping patterns which starts early in a child's life continue for the rest of their life. 'Brains of older adults with chronic sleep problems look different to those of adults who have enjoyed enough sleep”.

Several studies have reported a close link between sleep disturbances and children with Attention-Deficit /Hyperactivity Disorder. A Finnish study looked at the link between shorter duration of sleep and the development of ADHD. "We were able to show that short sleep duration and sleeping difficulties are related to behavioral symptoms of ADHD, and we also showed that short sleep, per se, increases behavioral symptoms, regardless of the presence of sleeping difficulties", says researcher Juulia Paavonen, MD, PhD.

A 2007 study in Turkey showed that sleep disturbances in childhood were an indicator of aggression in children and youths, along with other antisocial personality disorders. Children who sleep less may be more likely to report symptoms of anxiety, depression and aggression later in life according to the report . It has also long been known that poor sleep habits in adults lead to cardiovascular diseases and perhaps other conditions such as strokes insulin resistance leading to diabetes and other health problems. However new research shows that sleep disturbance can affect young adolescents with chronic low grade inflammations which in turn can lead to more serious health problems

All of these research studies show that children benefit most from ” good sleep hygiene practices, which include a consistent routine for bed and consistent bedtime, a quiet darkened and warm bedroom, a consistent wake time and daytime exercise . Never underestimate the benefit of a good night's sleep for children.

[1] Dana Byrd University of Florida in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2009

[2] Université de Montréal Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008; 162[4]:360-367.

[3] Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162[4]:330-335.

[4] European Psychiatry, Volume 22, Supplement 1, March 2007, Pages S266-S267

[5] R. Mehra, F. Xu, D. C. Babineau, R. P. Tracy, N. S. Jenny, S. R. Patel, S. Redline. Sleep Disordered Breathing and Pro-thrombotic Biomarkers: Cross-sectional Results of the Cleveland Family Study. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2010

[6] Single Night of Partial Sleep Deprivation Induces Insulin Resistance in Multiple Metabolic Pathways in Healthy Subjects. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2010Single Night of Partial Sleep Deprivation Induces Insulin Resistance in Multiple Metabolic Pathways in Healthy Subjects. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2010

[7] Disturbed sleep is associated with increased C-reactive protein in young women

Brain, Behaviour, and Immunity, Volume 23, Issue 3, March 2009, Pages 351-354

Michele L. Okun, Mary Coussons-Read, Martica Hall

[8] Helping Children Sleep -Barbara C Gallend Edwin A Mitchell Department of Pediatrics, University of Auckland