Natural therapy helps to treat insomnia in children

Insomnia in children is not uncommon, but can have a negative impact on a child's quality of life. 

After a day of hiking, cycling, camping and hot baths, Thien Minh (10 years old) thinks I'll sleep well tonight. However, at night, Minh was still standing up, lying down, and restless in bed. Minh tried everything from counting sheep to listening to soothing but ineffective songs. Sleep has become a daily "fight" with Minh and the boy is diagnosed with insomnia.

What is insomnia?

People can sometimes have trouble sleeping. Difficulty sleeping is not a problem if it occurs only a few times. However, if your baby has trouble sleeping every day, he may experience insomnia. Insomnia or sleep disturbances can affect both children and adults. Here are five stages of sleep that everyone experiences:

Stage 1 (not deep sleep): Babies have fluttering sleep and are prone to wake up.

Stage 2: Breathing rate and heart rate become steady, eyes move slowly, preparing to go to deep sleep.

Stage 3: Ultra slow brain waves - called delta waves, will begin to appear alternately with smaller and faster waves.

Stage 4: Your child's brain produces most of the separate delta waves.

Rapid eye-movement (REM) sleep: The brain works while sleeping like when awake. At this stage, you may notice that the child has their eyes closed, but they are moving quickly from side to side due to brain activity or dreaming.

Insomnia often lacks restorative sleep (deep sleep and REM sleep). A child loses sleep when:

Difficulty falling asleep at night

Waking up early around 3 a.m. and having trouble falling asleep again

Get up early in the morning and sleep all day

Not paying attention to school assignments

Or make mistakes

Hyperactivity, a common symptom in babies who don't get enough sleep.

This can lead to impaired function of the child's body. Insomnia can last about 3 weeks or longer. Babies with insomnia often look sleepy and tired all the time. However, these symptoms can also be caused by colds, flu, anemia, immune system disorders and diabetes.

Insomnia in children cannot be diagnosed through any test. If your child develops any of the above symptoms, bring him or her to a doctor!

Causes of insomnia in children

1. Stress

Stress is one of the causes of insomnia in children, especially during puberty. Like adults, children can be stressed by academic pressure, fear of something not real, or pressure from friends. In addition, family conflicts affect children and make them more likely to wake up at night. If your child is complaining about not being able to sleep, talk to him or her to find out the cause.

2. Medicines

Certain medications, such as anticonvulsants, anticonvulsants, and corticosteroids, can have side effects that can affect a child's eating and sleeping habits.

3. Mental Disorders and Other Sleep Disorders

Children with depression , anxiety or other mental problems are more likely to lose sleep. In addition, other illnesses such as muscle aches, joint pain, sleep apnea, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder also prevent children from sleeping well.

4. Using many stimulants

Drinks high in caffeine can also help your baby sleep well. In addition, nicotine can also lead to sleepless nights.

Treatment of insomnia in children

Create a quiet room space to help children sleep well. Do not give children and puberty medications to adults with insomnia. Some treatments for insomnia include:

1. Behavioral therapy

Treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnotic therapy ... are used to address potential psychological disorders leading to insomnia in children. Sometimes, a therapist may work with a child and parents to determine the cause. Maybe the child's insomnia is related to the parent.

Cognitive behavioral therapy can be used to treat insomnia in children. Children need a parent or a comforting object like a stuffed animal or a gentle activity to fall asleep. When sleeping, children are still upset or at bedtime, but they still refuse to go to sleep. At this point, you can stop sleeping and offer a snack, drink a glass of water or tell a story to your baby.

2. Lifestyle changes

Making healthy lifestyle changes can help your baby sleep well. Therefore, parents can do the following to improve children's sleep:

Observe if your child's bedroom has too much light on the street lights or too much noise in traffic at night.

The bedroom clock does not make loud noises affecting a child's sleep.

If your child finds it difficult to sleep due to anxiety or fear of something, you can help relax them by taking a deep breath before bed.

3. Establish good habits

Insomnia can last for a short time and soon ends. To help your baby have healthy sleep habits in the early years of life, you can:

Setting a bedtime schedule is one way to create a healthy bedtime routine for your baby. You should ask your child to adhere to that time frame. In addition, children also have to wake up on time to ensure they get enough sleep each day.

Children should not drink foods containing caffeine at least 4 - 6 hours before bed. In addition, to avoid getting up in the middle of the night, let your child read or meditate before going to bed.

Therapy natural insomnia treatment

Using natural methods to treat insomnia is better than using medicine. In addition, teaching children the habit of voluntarily going to bed will help children have healthy habits in the future. Here are ways to help your baby get a natural sleep without medicine:

Sleeping bags work to relax the senses and help children sleep easily. To do this method, put dried flowers like chamomile, lavender, rose and lemon in a cloth bag. Put the bag next to your baby to help him or her sleep better.

Taking a glass of warm milk or unsweetened chamomile tea before bed will help soothe the body, help the body relax and fall asleep.

Add a few drops of lavender or chamomile essential oil to the bath water.  The scent of chamomile and lavender works to help children sleep better.

Magnesium-rich foods: A lack of magnesium will prevent the brain from resting at night. So, eat magnesium-rich foods like almonds, pumpkin seeds, and lettuce before bed.

The roots of valerian contain natural sedative that can help prevent sleep and waking state at midnight. However, you should only use this root in moderate amounts.

Passion fruit helps to reduce stress, anxiety and mental fatigue.

If your child is being treated for insomnia, talk to your child before trying the herbal remedies above. When used properly, these natural herbal remedies will help children fight insomnia and develop healthy sleep habits.