Is Your Child A Night Owl?

Prevalence of Sleep Apnea In Children

Although sleep apnea it used to be considered rare, recent studies have shown that sleep apnea is more common in children than previously thought. Sleep apnea occurs in about 1-3 percent of all children. Sleep apnea can occur at any age but peaks between two and six years of age. There is no sex difference in the prevalence of sleep apnea; boys and girls are equally likely to have sleep apnea.

Snoring is much more common than sleep apnea. Occasional snoring occurs in about 20 percent of all children and nightly snoring in about 10 percent. Thus, just because your child snores does not mean that he has sleep apnea, but he should be evaluated.

Sleep apnea, also known as obstructive sleep apnea, is a serious disorder in which there are pauses in breathing during sleep. Sleep apnea is generally thought of as a disorder that occurs in adults, but children often experience it. For some children, like Stevie, apnea is serious, and the parents, while aware of the problem, don't know where to turn for help. In many instances, however, the parents aren't even aware that their child has sleep apnea and do not seek medical help.

If you're looking for advice on how to improve child's sleep habits, please click: How To Get Your Child To Sleep In Their Bed

What Happen If You Never Sleep?

I found this fascinating quote today:

Women are twice as likely to complain of insufficient and poor sleep as men, according to a number of questionnaire and interview studies of young to middle aged men and women. In addition, women report a greater need for sleep, greater daytime sleepiness, longer total sleep times, more trouble maintaining sleep, and greater consumption of sleeping tablets than men do, whereas men report than it takes them longer to fall asleep including my own husband, who complains an awful lot about his poor sleep and his difficulties falling asleep.Oct 2008

You should read the whole article.

What Happen If You Never Sleep?

You’re tired during the day, you’re irritable, anxious, have difficulty concentrating and are bout as alert as a fridge freezer. If you don’t deal with your sleep problem, your health will spiral downwards and your once cheery personality will be replaced by a glum, short-tempered one. Your probably don’t need a scientist to tell you how you’re feeling after a few bad nights. But it may be useful to know what’s happening to your body when you’re deprived of sleep. It could be worse than you think….

Poor Memory

During a good night’s sleep, in the REM stage, the brain busily replenishes the neurotransmitters that organize neural networks vital for remembering, learning, performance and problem solving. If you deprive the brain of sleep, you get less REM sleep. The crossword takes twice as long to finish, you’ll forget the names of close friends and you’ll stare at the tax form for days before even attempting to fill it out.

More Car Accidents

According to one study drowsiness or sleep disorders was a factor in about half of all traffic accidents and 36% of fatal accidents. Another study compared the reaction times between people who were sleep deprived and those who’d been drinking alcohol. This suggests that driving when tired is as dangerous as driving drunk.

Constant Colds

With a tissue pressed to your face at all times, no one’s really seen you properly for weeks which is probably a good thing considering your dry, flaky red nose, cracked lips and streaming eyes. Recent research demonstrated that the nightly loss of four hours of sleep over 10 days in healthy young adults significantly reduced their immune function. This is because it reduces the number of white blood cells which are responsible for the production of antibodies that fight disease.

Old Before Your Time

Research suggests that missing sleep can actually speed up ageing. Sleeping for only four hours a night for less than a week reduces the body’s ability to process and store carbohydrates and regulate hormone levels changes which are similar to those of advanced ageing. Another study found that sleeping under five hours per night shortened the life span although sleeping more than nine hours also did the same.

Makes Your Fat

Lack of sleep makes you hungry and more probe to putting on weight and one of the main causes of snoring and sleep apnea. The key to this is the hormone leptin, which signals when the body needs or dose not need more food. Leptin levels rise during the sleep and this tells your brain that you’ve eaten enough and don’t need any more calories. When you’re sleep deprived, leptin levels are low, which send signal to your brain that you need more calories. Your brain thinks that there’s a shortage of food and that you need to eat more, when in fact you’ve eaten.

High Blood Pressure

Blood pressure usually falls during the sleep cycle, however, interrupted sleep can adversely affect this normal decline, leading to hypertension and cardiovascular problems. One study of nurses showed that those sleeping for five hours or fewer had 45% greater risk of developing heart disease than those sleeping for eight hours. Oversleeping also had risks, however. Those sleeping nine to eleven hours increased their by 38%

Diabetes Risk

Research has also show that insufficient sleep impairs the body’s ability to use insulin, which can lead to the onset of diabetes.

Insomnia can be affected by many of factors like stress, depression, sickness, drug, and some bad lifestyle. One of the root cause is the partner who sleep beside you was the reason that make you insomnia. For info please visit this article Your Insomnia Cure Blog, & Natural Insomnia Cure.

Is Your Child Has Skin Problem?

I found this fascinating quote today:

You Can Easily Eradicate Your Eczema within 10 days Using Nothing More Than Readily Available Natural Products.Sam, Dec 1969

Suggestions For Helping Eczema Kids

• Give your child an oatmeal bath in lukewarm water. Soak for at least 20 minutes, but no more than 30 minutes. Cover the skin thoroughly with the thickest cream your child can tolerate within 3 minutes of leaving the bath.


• Refrigerate any prescription medication or moisturizer. This will stop itching fasten than room temperature creams. For trips away from home, use s cooler.


• Make sure your child’s skin is covered with an emollient like petroleum jelly before he or she goes swimming.


• Cover your child’s face and hands with an emollient like petroleum jelly before he or she goes out in cold weather.


• Babies hand s and cheeks should be coated before meals so that foods and beverages don’t irritate their skin.


• Have your child wear loose fitting, comfortable clothes made of cotton or any other smooth fiber fabric.


• When you purchase new clothing or bedding, wash it before your child uses it. Dries, preservatives, and irritants on few fabrics can leach onto the skin and cause itching.


• Keep your child’s fingernails trimmed.


• Have your child wear cotton gloves at night. Knee high socks are sometimes better because they don’t fall off as easily.


• Keep your child’s hand busy during the day. Idles hands will often find occupation in scratching. Try worry beads, hand size squeeze balls, or hand toys.


• Try over the counter antihistamines. If oral antihistamines make your child drowsy, try a topical cream. Benadryl cream is often effective but does contain allergens that can cause an allergic reaction if overdosed, even in those without eczema. Ask your doctor if a prescription cream called zonalon might help your child. Zonalon doesn’t contain allergens.