Snoring in Children – Is it Time to See Your Doctor?
There is a well-established connection between children’s breathing disorders during sleep and behavioural problems but recently published research from the University of Arizona has again highlighted the need for parents to identify their children’s sleep breathing problems as early as possible...The Arizona study found there was a four to five times greater risk of children with sleep apnea having behavioural issues. Read full article
Will Our Kids Be Better 'Technology Parents'?
So this morning I saw the headline “Our web-addict kids miss out on meals and sleep”.And I thought, somewhat judgementally - surely their parents can do something about that? And at the same time I acknowledged, from my own personal experience, how hard it is to get teens to stop using a computer and do something else. Read full article
Don't Put Your Old Television in Your Child's Room
Research results were released this week from the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health indicating that between about 20% and 30% of five year olds in Australia have a television in their bedroom. I was surprised. Although the study was focused on obesity in younger children, it is the figure about televisions in bedrooms that really amazes me...If you were considering putting your old television in your child’s room, here are my 8 reasons for why you should instead donate it to charity: Read full article
Teens Using Technology - Backlit Devices can Impact on Sleep
New research from the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, indicates that teenagers who use backlit technology, such as tablet devices, for two hours before bed, may have their sleeping patterns disrupted. At this time of year in Australia, many teens are studying for their final HSC exams and technology usually plays a significant role at this time. Being aware of its possible effects on sleep and melatonin release, may help parents advise their teens on how to ensure they get sufficient sleep. Read full article
Teens, Study and Lost Sleep - The Link with Academic Success
A new longitudinal study out of the U.S. finds that if teens give up sleep in order to do extra study, they are more likely to have academic performance problems the following day. Read full article
Sleepwalking in Children - Causes and Tips for Parents
Lily, aged seven, sleepwalks occasionally: “She wanders around and she often, somehow, finds us in the house. She might be smiling; she might open the cupboards, often she needs to go to the toilet,” explains her mother Amanda. Sarah*, whose daughter Amelia*, is also seven, says she’s been startled to see her daughter in a “trance-like state” at her bedside in the middle of the night ...While most children will outgrow this sleep disturbance by the time they are adults, it can be a cause for concern for their parents ... Read full article
Helpful Information on Children and Sleep Disorders
Any parent will tell you the meaning of the saying “slept like a baby” is completely opposite to reality. Thankfully, many parents succeed in establishing a routine to their baby’s initial erratic sleep patterns without too much trouble. But for some, sleep problems become an ongoing concern. Sleep problems are common throughout all stages of childhood. Community based studies report that anywhere between 10% and 45% of children and 11% to 30% of adolescents have one or more sleep problems, which can occur in infancy or develop later. Read full article
What is the Value of Homework? Research and Reality
Raise the topic of homework with parents of school age children and watch the sparks fly. Parent opinion on homework ranges from those who’d like to see it eliminated altogether to those who set extra work for their children to make up for what they see as an overly relaxed approach. Teachers are caught in the middle – not to mention kids - and even education experts are unable to present a united front about the value of homework. This article looks at the research about the value of homework in primary school and high school. Read full article
Harvard Professor Talks Sleep Deficit and School Start Times
This is an excerpt from a longer public forum on sleep deficit and health. Professor of Sleep Medicine, Susan Redline M/D. discusses school start times and whether schools should start later. Do current school start times force children to go to school at times when, according to their natural, biological rhythms, they should be asleep? Dr Redline says this problem leads to mood problems and poorer academic performance. Read full article
Teenagers Need More than Seven Hours Sleep
An academic paper released in 2012 suggested that teenagers may in fact need only just more than seven hours sleep to perform well in standardised tests. The article was not written by sleep researchers but by economics researchers who used statistical analysis to come up with this proposal. However the paediatric sleep community has refuted this suggestion. Read full article
