Sleep is a physiological state in which the body and the brain continue to function, but not in a state of wakefulness-heart rhythm, blood pressure, respiratory rate, body temperature, etc., are reduced. As the child grows, the regime of his sleep and wakefulness also changes; in adolescence, he is close to the regime of an adult. It is customary to distinguish between two phases of sleep: sleep with rapid eye movement (BDG), or a quick sleep, and all the rest of the sleep time. Each phase has its own characteristics. The second phase is usually divided into 4 stages, depending on the degree of immersion in sleep. The starting point is zero or wakeful. The first stage: the person feels drowsy and starts to doze off. In the first 3 months the child's life is divided into three-hour cycles, because he needs to often eat, sleep and remove waste from the body. During this period, the child sleeps an average of 16 hours a day. The second stage: this is a deeper sleep with the greatest duration. The third stage: the dream is still deep, it is difficult to wake a person at this stage of sleep. Fourth stage: the deepest dream. To awaken a person in this state, it will take several minutes.
Quick sleep
For a single stage of this dream are characterized by rapid eye movements from side to side. Usually it occurs between the first and second stages of the rest of the sleep time. During the phase of normal sleep, the brain lacks activity to store information in memory, so we do not remember the dreams that we see at this stage. In a dream, we can not control the muscles of the arms, legs, face and trunk, but the respiratory, intestinal, cardiac and general muscular activity persists. Memory also continues to work, so we remember our dreams.
Changing the mode of sleep in infancy:
- In the first month of life, day and night cycles of sleep and wakefulness are very similar. For the second month, sleep becomes deeper and more prolonged at night.
- At the age of 1 year the child usually sleeps 12-14 hours a day, including 2 times in the afternoon.
- At the age of 12-18 months the child gradually refuses one day's sleep, but after dinner can continue to sleep until the age of 4.
- At the age of 4-12 years, the child's sleep mode gradually acquires a similarity with the adult's sleep regime: it sleeps an average of 10 hours a day, and only at night. Some researchers notice a change in sleep patterns in adolescents: daytime sleepiness, which is preceded by daytime activity and wakefulness until late at night on weekends. It is important that the teenagers get enough sleep, but remember: it is impossible to sleep "for good". The longer you sleep in the day, the more difficult it is to fall asleep in the evening.
Sleep problems in children
- Unwillingness to go to bed. Children come up with all sorts of pretexts, try to manipulate their parents, just to delay the moment of bedding. Many ask parents to stay with them longer until they fall asleep, or go to bed in their parents' bed.
- Children have whole rituals - with requests to bring water, kiss at night, etc. In all these cases, the child tries to attract attention and take over the situation, he manipulates others. This is a behavioral problem, it should be treated accordingly.
- Night awakenings. They can be the result of unwillingness to go to bed. Usually the pretext is fear, but the main goal of the child is to go to bed with the parents or take one of them to their bed. In these cases, the child also gets attention and manipulates the parents for their own purposes. We are again dealing with a functional violation.
- Night fears. This term refers to repeated episodes of sudden awakenings during the first third of the basic period of sleep (in the 3-4 stages of sleep), often in a panic or with tears. Each episode is associated with severe anxiety and physical manifestations such as tachycardia, dyspnea, sweating. Usually a child incoherently answers questions, looks confused and confused, makes stereotyped movements, for example, clings to a pillow. If he falls asleep before he can get rid of distress, most likely, the next day the child will not remember anything. In most cases, this disorder is harmless and goes without treatment. But if no improvement is observed, a neurophysiological examination may be required.
- Nightmares. They cause nocturnal panic attacks. A child wakes up crying or crying, but you can ask him what's wrong and calm him down.
- Sleepwalking. The child gets out of bed and, not waking up, paces around the room or around the house. Such phenomena are considered a violation of the rhythm of sleep, caused by the immaturity of the mechanisms responsible for relaxation and immobility. You can make a child a continuous encephalogram during sleep to study the manifestations of sleepwalking. If episodes of sleepwalking are repeated occasionally and the child does not harm himself, he does not need treatment, and usually he stops walking in a dream. If the problem is aggravated, you may need to take drugs such as carbamazepine (one dose at bedtime).
- Insomnia. Difficulties of falling asleep or awakening in the middle of the night, after which the child is unable to sleep again, are associated with anxiety disorders and depressive conditions. Insomnia can cause: adenoid infections, in which lying prone feeling of suffocation, as well as some anti-influenza drugs - theophylline, ephedrine and beta-adrenergic. Insomnia can be associated with analgesics containing caffeine, and drops in the nose with pseudoephedrine. If the child is very nervous before going to bed, or the tense situation in the house, the child watches TV shows and films that are not suitable for age, etc., he will not be able to quickly fall asleep. Stress caused by illness, hospitalization, problems in school, can also lead to insomnia in children. If insomnia is persistent or resuming, the child will need the help of a professional psychologist.
- Hypersomnia. In this violation, the child sleeps during the day. Sometimes hypersomnia is associated with insomnia, often it is simply a reaction to a change in sleep or apnea. Hypersomnia can occur with depression. The doctor should find out if the child is taking drugs that cause drowsiness - tranquilizers, antihistamines, antitussives, cold medicines, cyproheptadine, etc. If hypersomnia persistent or resuming without obvious reasons, neurophysiological examination and a continuous encephalogram during sleep may be required.
Studies have shown that 35% of children under the age of 5 suffer from sleep disorders, of which only 2% are caused by psychological problems requiring treatment. The remaining 98% of cases are bad habits associated with sleep. The process of learning to sleep begins immediately after the birth of the child, in spite of the fact that it will start to regulate the sleep only for the third month of life. It is very important to immediately react to night crying, to teach the child to sleep in a crib, and not in your hands, and with the lights off. Sleeping on his hands, the child expects to be there when he wakes up, and when he sees himself in the crib, he is lost and frightened. Food should not be associated with a baby with sleep. Therefore it is very important during feeding to distract the child from sleep with light, music, other irritants. It is useful to put into the crib the objects with which the child will become accustomed to associate a dream - soft toys, blankets, etc. As in any study, it is important to establish a regime: after a bath follows dinner, followed by a dream.
It is recommended to put the child in bed every evening at the same time - at 20-21 hours, so that he can prepare for bed. It is useful to introduce a soothing ritual of going to sleep - for example, reading fairy tales or saying a prayer. It is important to explain even to a very young child that parents teach him to sleep properly, so he should not ask them to go to bed or delay their going to bed. The child must fall asleep himself, in the absence of parents in the bedroom. If the child cries, you can go or look at him (waiting 5 minutes) to calm down, talk a little, but do not order to calm down or sleep. The child must understand that he was not abandoned. Now we know how to eliminate the violation of sleep in a child.