Children One in five toddlers has sleep problems, the expert estimates the problems have increased in recent years

Which The fifth Finnish child of play has some degree of sleep problems. This is how the parents of the children report in the ongoing Child Sleep and Health study of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), which includes 1,673 Finnish families.

“Most of the sleep difficulties of children of play age are mild, the rest are moderate or difficult,” says THL’s research manager and docent at the University of Helsinki. Juulia Paavonen.

Play age means about 2.5 to 6 years of age.

According to Paavonen, the sleep problems of school-age children are roughly as common as those of play-age children, and most of them are mild.

Terveystalo pediatric neurologist Juha Kuittinen estimates that children’s sleep problems have increased in recent years. According to him, children’s reduced night’s sleep and difficulty falling asleep may be related to increased use of a computer, phone or other devices before bedtime.

“On the other hand, the increase in sleep problems may also be explained by the fact that parents have increased their knowledge of the subject: they understand that it is important to address sleep problems in time and take their children more sensitively to research,” Kuittinen says.

Paavonen according to children, sleep problems are rarely explained by a single cause and are often the sum of many factors. The underlying factors for union problems tend to be slightly different in children of play and school age.

For school-age children, emphasis is placed on issues of mental well-being, stress, bullying, school-related demands, social relationships, and the use of social media. Sleep problems in young children, on the other hand, are mainly related to the family situation: for example, hurry, changes in family situations, parental burdens, and the challenges of young families in general are often related to children’s sleep problems.

According to Paavonen, however, perhaps the most common background factor is the irregular rhythm of the family’s life, which sensitively confuses the child’s sleep rhythm.

“A really large proportion of children have some sort of sleep-related challenge. On weekends, the child supervises late and sleeps too long in the morning. Hobbies can last until the evening, there is too much screen time before going to bed or the child does not have a clear evening routine at all, ”Paavonen describes.

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School-age children often have more traditional insomnia: the child would like to sleep but is not allowed to catch sleep.

Playful According to Paavonen, children’s sleep problems are often related to going to bed: a child does not have a malt or does not want to go to sleep, which is why falling asleep is delayed. Going to bed can be associated with, for example, fear of being dark or alone. Such difficulties are usually alleviated by school age.

School-age children often have more traditional insomnia: the child would like to sleep but is not allowed to catch sleep.

Kuittinen from Terveystalo says that some of the children of play age wake up repeatedly at night or too early in the morning and need the help of a parent to fall asleep again. Such a sleep association disorder often occurs as early as infancy.

Junior the investigation of sleep problems begins with the exclusion of somatic causes. Sometimes insomnia can be caused by a disease that impairs the quality of sleep, such as asthma, infection or reflux disease, says Kuittinen.

“Children can also have similar sleep problems as adults: restless legs, snoring or sleep apnea, which causes restless and intermittent sleep, daytime tiredness and, over time, also difficulty concentrating and learning.

According to Kuittinen, children’s sleep problems can be prevented by creating a pleasant interaction situation from going to bed, which involves familiar and soothing ways, such as an evening tale.

“The most effective prevention of sleep problems is already in early childhood, where the child is taught the skill of falling asleep independently,” Kuittinen points out.

Juulia Paavonen says that the treatment of children’s sleep problems covers three entities. The first of these is psychoeducation: parents are given information about how children usually sleep, what kind of quality sleep is, what is the appropriate amount of sleep, and so on. The second entity is sleep care, which includes sleep rhythms and evening routines, among other things. The third set includes various behavioral therapy methods, such as sleep school and sleep rhythm correction.

According to Paavonen, in many families, a child’s sleep problems are alleviated only by correcting their sleep rhythm.

“The importance of the circadian rhythm cannot be overemphasized. Especially sensitive and sleep-prone children need a regular day rhythm where they wake up and go to bed at about the same time each day. ”

Paavonen emphasizes the importance of early intervention: if a child’s sleep problems persist, they often become more complex and difficult, which means that it also takes longer to achieve a treatment response.

Last year, the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) launched the Child’s Sleep website, which provides parents with information and tips if a child’s dreams are a concern.