Childhood Hyperactivity Linked To Shortened Nighttime Sleep

Modern Medicine:

Children who are not able to sleep through the night are more likely to be hyperactive, with the risk especially high for boys with adverse family living conditions, according to a study published online Oct. 19 in Pediatrics.

Read the whole story: Modern Medicine

Comments

[MNmommy]

It's sort of chicken and egg.

Children that are sleep deprived may show ADHD like symptoms.

Children that have ADHD need less sleep, or sometimes have difficulty sleeping due to medications that ameliorate the ADHD.

My son who has ADHD gave up his naps (which were never longer than 20 minutes at a crack by the age of four months) before the age of two and has always struggled to sleep through the night - even to this day.

[outnow]

Children can have sleep apnea or restless leg sysdrome that will deprive them of sleep. ADHD itself may cause or contribute and visa versa. Also, medications such as stimulants contriubute to poor sleeping.

Taking a child out in nature with some good exercise and good nutrition helps. Omega-3 is recommended with the avoidance of MSG and blue and red dyes.

That lack of sleep contributes to ADHD is nothing new.

[onwisconsin]

I have AD/HD and I'm 43. I have had it my whole life and I'm female. It certainly wasn't as understood as much as it is now -- and it is still seriously misunderstood in girls.

Given that, I will agree that there may be a correlation between sleep and hyperactivity. I know that even though my parents (both educators) put me to bed on time each night, I have suffered my entire life from insomnia. I am simply on a different time schedule than most people, as are many folks with AD/HD. This is not new to the research on AD/HD. If I didn't work in academia, perhaps I could afford to let my normal body clock return to its natural rhythms; in which case I would go to bed around 3-4 a.m. and arise somewhere around 9-11. I don't need a lot of sleep; I simply need it in the morning hours.

Instead, I must rely on medications that regulate my body to normal business hours and help me function in my role interacting with students, other faculty, and the community. I also need to be able to concentrate to write. Without medication, I can do the social part to a certain level of effectiveness but I'm not consistent from day to day and, frankly, my scholarship suffers. I still don't sleep much but that's just the way I walk through this world. I get a lot done at 2 in the morning!

[The Meek]

I don't like to talk about myself on my comments, but maybe my experience will be of some help because I have sleep problems also that have made it difficult to make a living.

I controlled mine by self medicating with cannabis before going to bed. It helps me regulate my sleep cycle to the standard 8 to 5 that civilization imposes on me. Of course I could go to jail if caught, but it was either that or not being able to work effectively.

Now that I'm older, having a smoke before I go to bed allows me to sleep through the night without having to get up 2 or 3 times to pee. I know another person that does the same thing for the same reason.

[The Meek]

My comment doesn't apply to children, but the person I was responding to is 43 and therefore old enough to make her own decisions. I am also not suggesting that she does it, but only relating my own experience. If she lives in a medical marijuana state, she can try it legally with a doctors approval.

[onwisconsin]

Thanks for the thought but I'm severely allergic to smoke of any kind and I have asthma.

Kind of makes the pot thing a downer.

Pot smoke actually causes one of my worst reactions. Found this out in college and almost died.

Would end the insomnia though.

[JRN]

I think this is the root of SO many problems in school. The kids can't sit still because they are hyperactive, and they are hyperactive because they are just plain TIRED. And then, the more tired and wired they are, the harder it is for them to get to sleep. This is the cause of sleeping problems of ADULTS who have a hard time falling asleep at night, in my experience.

Everyone, down to my parents laughed at us for putting our kids to bed early. Until recently, our kids went to bed at 6:30. Now that they're 5 and 7, they both go to bed at 7:00, and my 7 year old is allowed to read in her bed until 7:30, when lights go out. When I go up there at 7:40, she is out cold, and I have to wake her up in the morning at 7:15! Kids NEED sleep. And we aren't militant. My oldest co-slept with us until she was 2.5 years old, and she needed to do that. My youngest was always a better independent sleeper, so was in her room once she stopped nursing at night. But still, even with co-sleeping, breast-fed kids, good sleeping habits can be developed. It takes routine, commitment, and work, but it can be done.

That said, I am a stay-at-home mother. I know these early bedtimes are much more difficult for families with two parents working outside of the home.

[marianproletarian]

This is so true. My son is almost 3 and has always had sleep issues. If he's sleeping enough (10 hours at night, 2 at nap), he is so easy going, intelligent, and thoughtful. But if he gets off track, like if we go away for the weekend and his naps get messed up, I can expect 2 to 4 weeks of restless, interrupted sleep and early waking with temper tantrums and crazy hyperactivity. I sometimes wonder if the "terrible twos" aren't just kids who don't get enough sleep.

[minimalist syntax]

Lack of sleep can certainly create problems, but the "terrible twos" has to do with children beginning the process of self individuation. No amount of sleep changes that. However, children who have problems with self individuation seem to me to inevitably have sleep problems-- they have difficulties accepting the separating from the parent required for healthy falling asleep. So maybe you are right- there is a connection here.