You’ve tried all the usual ways to get your child to bed on time: sticking to a nightly routine; stopping them from eating and drinking well before bedtime, etc. However, none of these seem to work well so you’re caving in to the idea of getting a children sleep aid. Here are some facts that would encourage you. Facts you probably don’t know about how children sleep aids are being prescribed.
Pediatrics (May 2003), a medical journal, has an article that surveyed 671 pediatricians on when, why and what they actually prescribed or recommended prescription or over-the-counter sleep aids for children and adolescents.
When, Why and What Doctors Use Sleep Aids For Children
1. More than half of the pediatricians surveyed had prescribed sleeping pills to children at least once in the last six months. Apparently, your children are not the only ones having sleeping problems and the doctors recognize that.
2. About 55% of physicians said they prescribed sleeping medication to treat sleep problems in children to "provide the family with needed respite." This includes the short-term use of over-the-counter medications for specific situations, such as travel, acute pain or stress.
- 75% of those paediatricians had recommended anon prescription sleep aid, including the antihistamine Benadryl.
- 25% of them recommendedmelatonin or other herbal remedy, such as chamomile teas and valerian root.
3. The other half of paediatricians said they used sleep medications in "special needs" children i.e. mental retardation, autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This usually requires long-term use of children sleep aids or medication like Tenex which is used as a sedative in kids with ADHD. The most commonly prescribed sleeping pills were alpha-agonists. One brand name is Calapres, a hypertension drug for adults that has sedating properties.
4. Lastly, it must be noted that most of the paediatricians interviewed said they prescribed the children sleep aids "in combination with behavioral treatments." So, sleep hygiene and techniques are still just as important as having effective sleep aids for kids.
Two Common Sleep Problems in Young Children
Behavioral treatments must go hand in hand with any children sleep aid because many children have childhood behavioral insomnia. This sleep disorder involves one or both of the two following problems:
1. Sleep-onset association
Everyone wakes up briefly a few times at night especially during the stage of sleep called rapid eye movement (REM) when our dreams occur. Usually, we are unaware of these awakenings and return to sleep quickly.
As for young children, they may cry when they wake up. Parents naturally “help” their child return to sleep by feeding, rocking, holding or lying down with their child.
The child learns to connect or “associate” going to sleep with a person or activity. She is unable to fall asleep on her own when that action is missing.
2. Limit-setting problems
Your child refuses to go to bed, stalls, or makes it hard for you to leave the bedside. Usually begins from the age of two, limit-setting problems can occur at bedtime, nap time, or when your child wakes up during the night.
It can be hard but you need to discern what’s real and what’s simply a delay tactic. They may ask for one more hug, a tissue, a drink of water, another story, to have the light turned off or on, or to “tell you something important.
You need to be firm and consistent about the time for bed even if the child disagrees or seems active and alert. Don’t give in to them as it will only encourage the behavior. Children thrive within well-defined environments. Hence, the need for limits or boundaries to their sleep habits.
