Child Not Sleeping and Crying: Baby Sleep Problems—Disorders, Difficulties, Restless Sleep, and Nightmares
Quiet sleep is crucial for parents to remain calm and balanced. Proper rest is essential for parents to manage child-rearing and maintain a healthy family life. When parents lack sleep, they become irritable, less attentive, and their reactions slow down. This can lead to misunderstandings between parents and issues at work, all due to sleep deprivation. Both physical and psychological fatigue can rob anyone of joy. Therefore, it is very important for parents to ensure their children sleep well.Sleep as a physiological process has only recently started being thoroughly studied. It has been shown that sleep consists of several phases. The body needs slow-wave sleep to restore physical functions. During this phase, cells and internal structures renew, energy is restored, muscles grow, and hormones are secreted. The REM sleep phase, or fast sleep, is when mental and emotional restoration takes place: the nervous system recovers, information is processed, and memory, among other functions, is consolidated.
A child’s sleep differs physiologically from an adult’s sleep. Children’s sleep is lighter, more sensitive, and this is normal. Most of a child’s sleep is spent in the REM phase (whereas adults spend only about 25% in this phase). During REM sleep, parents may notice their child’s eyes moving rapidly under closed eyelids—this is when children dream. Sleep disturbances are categorized as being associated with anxiety, mental health disorders, or physical disorders of the nervous system.
Insomnia (Sleeplessness)
This involves trouble falling asleep or frequent waking during the night. Causes of insomnia in children include nervous system disorders or anxiety. Even healthy children whose parents haven’t established a bedtime routine can suffer from this sleep disorder. A bedtime ritual is essential for peaceful sleep. From early childhood, a set routine and consistent timing should be established to help calm the child and make it easier to fall asleep.
For example:
- Evening bathing
- Putting on pajamas
- Reading fairy tales while the child is in bed and giving a goodnight kiss
- Turning off the main lights and using a dim nightlight
Secondary insomnia is a sleep disorder associated with various physical, neurological, or psychiatric conditions. In such cases, it’s important to consult a sleep specialist (somnologist) to uncover the causes of the disorder.
Parasomnias
Many parents notice their child exhibits sudden, unusual behaviors during sleep:
- Bruxism—excessive teeth grinding.
- Apnea—periods when the child stops breathing during sleep. Severity varies. It can be an individual trait or be linked to enlarged adenoids, viral or cold-related inflammation, or a runny nose.
- Sleep talking—mumbling or even clearly speaking, sometimes crying, during sleep.
- Sleepwalking (Noctambulism)—the causes are not fully understood. Sometimes a child wanders to the parents’ bed at night and, in the morning, doesn’t remember how he or she got there.
- Twitching—involuntary jerks. Occasionally, a child wakes up after dreaming of falling or flying. The brain sends an alarm to the body, causing it to jolt awake.
- Compulsive movements—rocking, twisting hair, scratching, or playing with the blanket. These movements help some children self-soothe and fall asleep.
- Sleep paralysis—when a child temporarily can’t move upon waking up.
- Night terrors—sudden screaming and crying during sleep, not recognizing parents; in the morning, the child remembers nothing.
- Nightmares—the child wakes up upset, describes anxious dreams, and usually remembers them the next day.
Advice:
Take our unique Parenting Mentor Test. The results will indicate whether your child has a sleep disorder, and the recommendations provided will help you create the best environment for your child to sleep peacefully and free from nightmares.
Beyond various sleep disorders, remember to consider your child’s age. The amount of sleep needed and the level of emotional and psychological development change as children grow.
Causes of Restless Sleep in Healthy Children by Age:
Age 0–2 years
At this age, children need 12 to 15 hours of sleep daily. Most cellular growth occurs during sleep.
Main causes of restless sleep for infants and toddlers are physiological:
- Hunger. Babies typically eat every 3–4 hours and wake up several times each night to feed.
- Physical discomfort such as colic, an uncomfortable posture, or other issues. Crying is often the baby’s only way to express discomfort or pain.
- Temperature and humidity. Babies may wake if they’re too hot or cold. Dry air can irritate their mucous membranes, causing cough and general discomfort. Optimal room temperature for babies is 18–22°C (64–72°F), with humidity at 50–70%.
Age 2–6 years
From age two, daytime sleep gradually lessens and may eventually disappear; if the child stops napping, nighttime sleep should last at least 12 hours. As children grow, sleep may be disrupted not just by physical factors, but also by daytime experiences. At this age, children are very sensitive and absorb information like sponges.
- Bathroom needs. Children may wake or cry at night if they need to use the bathroom, especially if given a lot of fluids before bed. They may also wet the bed.
- Overstimulation. Exposure to bright images or watching cartoons late can overwhelm the brain, which then processes this information at night, leading to restless sleep.
- Overtiredness. Kids this age are very active. Sometimes after too much excitement or skipping a nap, their nervous system is exhausted, making it hard to fall asleep.
Age 6–14 years
After six, daytime naps are rare, and children need around 9.5 hours of sleep at night. School age brings new challenges: children gain lots of information, grow emotionally, form habits, and accumulate some fears.
- Learning difficulties. School introduces new challenges. If a child struggles with a subject (like math), anxious thoughts and images can appear in dreams, sometimes disturbing their sleep.
- Negative emotions. As children grow, they experience not only physical but also emotional growth. Stress, fear, insecurity, envy, and even anger can arise from social experiences. These feelings may surface in dreams, causing nightmares.
- Fears. Young children are typically fearless, but as they age, phobias and anxieties develop. Sometimes, parents unintentionally reinforce these fears with comments like, “If you don’t go to bed, the policeman will come” or “The wolf will come and get you.” These early anxieties can turn into nightmares that persist or even make a child afraid to go to bed.