Kids with Sleep issues

It’s becoming common practice to prescribe even young children sleeping aids and sleeping pills. The average age of children who receive sleep-aid prescriptions is decreasing as complaints of sleep issues, like pediatric insomnia, are increasing.  But studies show when kids use sleeping aids, they experience a 50% weakening, or unwiring, of the brain-cell connections originally […]

Young children need lots of sleep. Newborns 0-3 months need to sleep 14-17 hours. Infants 4-11 months need to sleep 12-15 hours. Toddlers 1-2 years old need to sleep 11-14 hours. And preschoolers 3-5 years old need to sleep 10-13 hours.  But children usually don’t get the full amount of sleep they need from sleeping […]

Part of a good bedtime routine for both children and adults includes taking time to wind down before trying to sleep. And a great way to do that is to spend time reading each night.  Reading for pleasure offers lots of benefits. It helps… Boost your capacity for empathy Build your vocabulary Reduce your risk […]

You have two ways for air to get into your lungs: through your nose and mouth.  Most people breathe through both their nose and mouth. But some people breathe primarily through their mouth, including when they sleep. Chronic mouth-breathing can cause health problems, however.  In children, these problems include crooked teeth, facial deformities, and poor […]

Many people struggle to fall asleep each night. They lie awake tossing and turning, unable to relax and quiet their thoughts long enough to drift to sleep.  If this sounds like you, you may want to try a new “sleep hack” created by Dr. Karan Rajan, a National Health Service (NHS) surgeon and clinical lecturer […]

Good sleep is essential for mental health, and it can be especially important for teens. As teens grow and cope with stress, the emotional regulation provided by REM sleep, which tends to occur closer to wake-up time, allows our teens to grow and thrive. Now, researchers from McGill University in Canada have found that teens […]

In a preliminary study from the University of Cincinnati, teenage boys with ADHD showed lasting improvements in behavior, mental health, executive function, and academic achievement after completing a cognitive behavior program aimed at improving sleep. The program, Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention for Youth (TranS-C), was a series of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) sessions and exercises. After […]

We’re fast approaching back-to-school time. Over the summer, kids tend to get more rest even though the days are longer. Mornings move more slowly, there is space for a nap, and there’s no homework to keep kids up late. But as we shift to the school year, sleep can be a big problem again. So […]

If you practice pediatric sleep dentistry, you’ve probably wondered: does T&A surgery help children have better outcomes, or do we refer too many children to surgery? And how much does the timing matter for outcomes? A new Australian study looked at whether the surgery was helpful and whether sooner was always better. The study, published […]

When you begin to learn about sleep apnea, you may notice that many dentists and sleep doctors talk a lot about the palate. Why is the palate so important to doctors and dentists who treat obstructive sleep apnea? There are several ways in which the form and development of the palate can cause OSA. If […]