What is Sleep Anxiety?
With 1 in 14 Australian kids aged between 4 and 17 suffering with anxiety of some form (Queensland Health, 2023), problems with sleep is a very common issue that can seriously affect the health of your child.
Lack of sleep or disrupted sleep can be a symptom of anxiety in general, however, sleep anxiety is a very real fear of actually falling asleep, staying asleep, and managing to fall back asleep upon waking during the night.
If your child has been displaying any, or a combination of, these symptoms at bedtime for longer than a six month period, they may have sleep anxiety:
- Severely resisting going to bed
- Not wanting to sleep on their own
- Refusing to turn the lights off
- Clinging to you
- Crying uncontrollably
- Having tantrums
- Refusing to stay in bed
Our Little Miss was doing everything listed above, which would then lead to her having physical symptoms such as:
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Cold sweats
- Hyperventilating
- Tummy aches
- Uncontrollable shaking
Obviously, once this stage is reached, there is no hope of sleeping! Ensuring your child is calm and relaxed at bedtime is imperative to allow them to fall asleep peacefully.
Studies have consistently shown that not getting enough sleep, or poor quality of sleep, has many negative affects on our kids, which can have a huge impact on every aspect of their life.
Common symptoms from consistent lack of sleep can include:
- Lack of focus
- Poor concentration
- Moodiness
- Irritability
- Crankiness
- Hyperactivity
- Restlessness
- Groginess
- Lack of motivation
Which can lead to:
- Poor levels of self-confidence
- Mental health issues
- Aggression
- Depression
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Memory problems
- Poor decision-making
- Being unable to regulate emotions effectively
- Behavioural issues
- Weight loss
- Weight gain
- Delayed development
- Disruption of normal growth patterns
- Hormonal imbalances
- Lowered immunity, resulting in getting sick more often and for longer
The amount of sleep our bodies need for optimal performance in all areas of our lives depends on our age, and our level of development.
So how much sleep does your child need?
- Preschoolers (3 to 5 years) - 10 to 13 hours
- School-age (6 to 12 years) - 9 to 11 hours
- Teenagers (13 to 18 years) - 8 to 10 hours
Feeling scared, worried, or stressed (or a fierce combination of all three!) about falling asleep - and staying asleep - can turn bedtime into a living nightmare for everyone in the house.