Better Sleep Better Health

Communicating through language changed the course of human evolution. Connecting common thoughts and ideas fostered the growth of our civilization and culture. Now research suggests that sleep consolidation in the early years of a child’s life is integral to mastering this skill.

As reported in the journal SLEEP, a longitudinal study involving 1,029 twins from the Quebec Newborn Twin Study focused on sleep consolidation during the first two years of life. Using parental reporting, the twins’ sleep times were measured at 6, 18 and 30 months of age. Language skills were measured at 18 and 30 months with the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory, a standardized system used to determine development of early vocabulary. At 60 months the researchers used the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test to measure language development.

Results show that the day/night sleep ratio decreased significantly from 6 to 30 months of age. Children with language delays at 60 months had less mature sleep consolidation at both 6 and 18 months than children without delays and those with transient early delays. This suggests the earlier children attain a consolidated sleep schedule, the more quickly they may develop language skills.

Providing children with an environment conducive to sleep is essential for their development. Try to encourage a regular bedtime and create a cool, quiet and comfortable sleeping area to foster uninterrupted nighttime sleep.

If you have questions or concerns about your child’s sleep, the specialists at Oregon Sleep Associates are well versed in pediatric sleep medicine. Contact them at 503-288-5201 for more information.

Getting adolescents to get the sleep they need can be a hard task to accomplish. Today’s world is filled with distractions that keep kids and teenagers awake. But a new study released in the latest issue of the journal SLEEP suggests that parents that take the hard line when it comes to bedtimes are truly helping their children’s futures.

The study looked at 385 children from different schools in South Australia. Researchers found that 17.5% of the those studied reported a parent-set bedtime. That group demonstrated earlier bedtimes, more sleep, and improved daytime functioning compared to their peers without parent enforced bedtimes. This is significant because especially in children sufficient sleep time is essential for cognitive and physical development. Lack of sleep has been linked to lower school test scores, depression, increased traffic accidents, and childhood obesity.

Teens may not like it when their parents make them go to bed, but in the long run the benefits of sufficient sleep may far outweigh the costs of struggling over bedtimes.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death amongst Americans ages 15 to 24. This figure is made all the more heartrending when one considers that many suicides are preventable with intervention and proper treatment of depression. New information about sleep patterns may help prevent more senseless losses.

The study, reported in the journal SLEEP, found that teenagers who slept on average five hours or less a night were an alarming 71% more likely to be depressed than their peers who slept longer. They were also 48% more likely to think about committing suicide than those who got more sleep. These results are alarming considering that many teenagers are increasingly getting less sleep than they need. The AASM recommends that teens get at least 9 hours of sleep per night. However, many teen’s sleep schedules shift to a more nocturnal pattern of wakefulness. They may tend to feel tired later in the night and want to sleep in longer in the morning than adults and younger children. Unfortunately, school schedules and other responsibilities cut this sleep time short, leading to a repeated lack of rest. Setting an earlier bedtime is very important. Teens who went to bed at midnight or later on a regular basis were 24% more likely to feel depressed than those who had a bedtime of 10:00.

What can parents do to help their teens? The most important thing is always to talk to your kids. An open dialog is very important not only to understand what frame of mind they’re in, but also to offer support and stability. Also encourage your teens to get a good night’s sleep and enforce rules about no electronic devices or TV’s in the bedroom. Instill earlier bedtimes and make sure that they are as rested as possible. Try to remember what being a teenager was like and work to be a stable and safe harbor for them during this tumultuous time.
For more information about depression and suicide prevention call 1-800-SUICIDE.