sleep disorder, sleep apnea, chronic fatigue, restless leg syndrome, attention deficit disorder, add, a.d.d., insomnia, sleep improvement center

To label a child with ADD when it’s chronic sleep deprivation is not a mistake, it’s a tragedy.

Sleep deprivation can cause daytime hyperactivity and decreased focused attention. This can be mistaken for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or other behavior disorders.
National Institutes of Health

Common signs of pediatric sleep disorders
	Bedwetting
	Behavioral and learning difficulties
	Inconsistent appetite
	Irritability
	Poor memory and lack of concentration
	Snoring
	Fatigue
	Social problems
	Teeth Grinding

ADD and Chronic Sleep Deprivation exhibit nearly identical symptoms in children and adolescents. As with ADD, pediatric sleeping disorders make children irritable, act out and create behavioral issues. Concentration and focus also become impaired, resulting in poor school performance and social alienation.

Regrettably, sleep disorders are often overlooked as the cause and the easy conclusion is to diagnose the child as having ADD. This can ruin an otherwise healthy childhood and impose devastating consequences upon the child and family.

If your child is being treated for ADD without ruling out chronic sleep deprivation, this may place your child in serious jeopardy. Ritalin and other stimulants usually prescribed for ADD, will aggravate underlying sleep problems, and create a vicious cycle of medicating for behavior that worsens behavior.

The Way Children Sleep

Snoring
As a general rule, children do not snore. Snoring is a very strong indicator the child suffers from sleep apnea. Probable causes are enlarged tonsils and adenoids, sinus, nasal and other physiological abnormalities. If a child is a snorer and exhibits excessive daytime sleepiness, behavioral problems and mood disturbances, it is highly likely the child is sleep deprived and not getting a full nights rest.

Insomnia
Insomnia is a symptom, not a diagnosis. The difficulty in identifying insomnia in children is problematic because parents, not the sufferer, define and categorize good and bad sleep habits of their children based upon their own subjective perceptions. In other words; what one parent views as poor sleep habits; another might shrug it off and dismiss it with the view that the child “will grow out of it”.

Children with Special Needs
Insomnia and sleep disturbances are also very common among children with special needs. Autism, mental retardation and cognitive deficits significantly increase the likelihood of insomnia, which in-turn aggravate whatever problem the child may have.

Food Allergies
A child who is otherwise normal and healthy and suffers from insomnia, the cause may be a simple food allergy.

Second Opinions Guard Against Tragic Mistakes

Parents of children with ADD need absolute confidence in their child’s diagnosis. The Sleep Improvement Center works with referring physicians, patients and families to identify and treat sleep disorders. If your child has been diagnosed as having ADD, or you observe unsettling changes in behavior and vitality, contact the Sleep Improvement Center to arrange a consultation.