According to Pharmacy Times, a survey showed a number of children who presented to a pediatric emergency department had sleeping issues and had been given over-the-counter sleep aids.
The more significant issue may be the potential for children to become psychologically dependent on sleep aids, W. Christopher Winter, MD, of Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine in Virginia, told Pharmacy Times.“The pharmacological repercussions, as far as we know, are pretty low, [but] it’s the psychological problem this is really significant,” he explained. “Kids may grow up thinking they just have a problem and that they need medication forever.”
Sleep hygiene for children should include night time rituals- bathe, brush their teeth, read a story and then lights out.
However, Many difficulties with kids and sleep are due to airway issues. there is a simple nose-clearing exercise and then lips need to remain sealed to maintain the nasal breathing which will allow the child to sleep.
teaching daytime oral posture helps with the night time habits. additionally during breathing retraining, we teach the kids to actually apply medical paper tape lightly to their sealed lips before bed. this prevents default mouth breathing and will keep them sleeping.
more information at http://www.breatingwellopt.com. check the website for a training center in your area.