ADHD or Sleep Disturbance? Sleeping Aids for Children!

We all know that lack of sleep can cause us to be drowsy, perform poorly at work, and be dangerous behind the wheel of a car. Ongoing sleepiness has consequences that are more serious. In children, it increases the risk of accidents and injuries.

In addition, lack of sleep can have a negative effect on children’s performance in school, on the playground, in extracurricular activities, and in social relationships. Sleeping Aids in children are generally NOT recommended and parents need to realize that sleep problems can cause the misdiagnosis of ADHD and other behavioral sleep disorders.

Will Your Child Benefit from Sleeping Aids?

Inadequate sleep causes decreases in performance, concentration and reaction times. It can also cause increases in memory lapses, accidents, behavior problems and mood problems. Do these problems, or “symptoms,” sound familiar? They should if you are familiar with ADHD because many of these “symptoms” are central to the diagnosis of ADHD in children. What does this mean? Well, frankly it means that looking at the sleep pattern of a child or adolescent should always be a part of any diagnostic workup for ADHD, anxiety, behavior problems, or mood disturbance. Sleeping aids can intensify these problems and should be avoided.