Getting a good night's sleep

According to a 2000 report in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, children often inappropriately receive medications for psychological conditions. In fact, children frequently take prescription drugs to treat illnesses when alternative options are available. For example, prescriptions for sleeping pills continue to increase despite the side effects of these drugs. Medicating children brings up many ethical concerns. Exploring safe and effective ways to naturally enhance sleep resolves these difficult issues.

Behavioral Interventions

Practicing good sleep “hygiene” may enhance the sleep of children. This treatment requires following several common-sense guidelines. A 2006 study in the journal Sleep describes a few of these rules and the effect of enforcing them. Mothers and infants learned to avoid stimulant drugs and to create positive sleep environments. This weekly strategy improved the infants’ rest. After the intervention, they slept longer and had fewer awakenings relative to a control group. Interestingly, proper sleep hygiene also improved the mothers’ rest and they no longer considered sleep a problem.

Cognitive Therapies

Receiving standard forms of psychotherapy also improves children’s sleep. Such treatments include individual and group interventions. A 2008 report in the New England Journal of Medicine tested psychological counseling and drug treatment in children with anxiety disorders aged 7 to 17 years. These conditions included generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, and social phobia. Fourteen sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy reduced insomnia, fatigue, sedation, and restlessness relative to control. These positive changes were equal to those of sertraline, a commonly used antidepressant drug.

Herbal Remedies

Using traditional remedies such as herbs may promote sleep in children, as well. When carefully taken, substances such as kava safely and effectively ameliorate insomnia. A 2006 investigation presented in the periodical Phytomedicine evaluated the combination of valerian root and lemon balm. Children less than 12 years old experiencing insomnia and restlessness received the tonic for several nights. Most of them responded positively to the treatment: Insomnia decreased in 80 percent of the subjects, and restlessness decreased in 70 percent of them. No child reported an adverse reaction to the herbal supplement.

Hormonal Treatments

Taking naturally occurring hormones like melatonin can facilitate sleep in younger people. The pineal gland releases melatonin nightly to trigger sleep onset. Melatonin can also be synthesized and taken as a pill. A 2010 experiment in the monthly publication Pediatric Neurology looked at melatonin administration in children with intractable epilepsy. These children often have difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep. They also frequently display sleep disorders such as teeth grinding, breathing difficulty, and sleep walking. In general, nightly intake of exogenous melatonin for three months improved sleep quality and reduced seizure activity. Melatonin use did not cause significant side effects.

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