“Child wakes up screaming every 40 minutes”
My child is 3 years old and will not sleep more than 1 hour at a time. She wakes up approximately every 40 minutes and is crying. I am starting to think there is something wrong besides her just being a fussy kid. It seems like she physically can't fall into a deep sleep. Is this something a sleep medicine specialist would evaluate and if so, what would they do, or what could the problem be? I thought she would grow out of it, but it only seems to be getting worse. Please help!
6 Answers
SleepMedicineSpecialistNightTerrors
Yes. A sleep specialist who treats children would help.
Although I cannot speak to the specifics of your child’s sleep problem, I can speak in a general sense about conditions that sleep specialist see. Yes investigating awakenings is a job of a sleep medicine specialist. If a child cannot stay asleep, we look at the sources of the problem. Sometimes that entails utilizing a sleep study but we always start with a very comprehensive sleep consultation. However, the best place to begin is involving the child’s pediatrician for any concerns. They have many resources and know when a referral is needed.
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
Assuming the child's general health is normal with no history of nocturnal asthma or abdominal colic, one should look into the possibility of limit setting insomnia in children of this group. If the parent can experiment with sleeping in the same room with the child, and if that makes a difference, then the child may be having sleep onset and/or limit setting insomnia - no need for medication. Just behavior modification can make a difference. It is important to know what triggers the child's behavior.
This would definitely be appropriate for your daughter to see a pediatric sleep specialist. They would take a history and they might arrange for monitoring sleep for a night in a laboratory environment. It's hard to know without more information if this is something abnormal or not.
There is more history needed to be able to determine the cause of your child's crying in sleep. I definitely would seek out a sleep specialist with a pediatric background if possible.
Dr. Gingras
Dr. Gingras
It is almost a certainty that your daughter has Sleep Terrors. If so, usually a very small dose of clonazepam will suppress them after one or two nights. If this does not arrest the attacks, show this message to your pediatrician. Have him/her check your daughter for narrowing of the upper airway (at her age most likely enlarged tonsils or/and adenoids).
As I wish to have an idea as to how often I am right and how often I am wrong, I need to have this feedback!
Best wishes and good luck,
Dr. Roger
Roger Broughton MDCM,PhD,
FRCP(C), FAASM
As I wish to have an idea as to how often I am right and how often I am wrong, I need to have this feedback!
Best wishes and good luck,
Dr. Roger
Roger Broughton MDCM,PhD,
FRCP(C), FAASM
