Adopted Children & Sleep Disorders
Parents are constantly grappling with sleep problems in their young children. Research by psychologist Jodi Mindell [1999] in pediatric sleep disorders confirms that almost 25 percent of all children suffer from some form of sleep disorder. Sleep problems can be caused by anything from night terrors and breathing disorders to a need for parental presence. Other factors include social issues like adoption and abuse. Adopted children may experience typical sleep problems or have sleep disorders related to their adoptive status. Special care should be taken to ensure that sleep problems in adopted children are handled correctly without creating psychological discord in the children.
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Types of Sleep Problems
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Some children simply need less sleep than others. If they are behaving well throughout the day, they have had enough sleep. Others are sensitive to separation from their parents. Some children may have physical conditions like sleep apnea and are not able to enter into a deep sleep. Other children may have sinus problems or enlarged tonsils, disrupting their breathing patterns and causing sleep disturbances.
Effects on Sleep
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Adopted children can have typical sleep disorders as well as be affected by the transition to a new environment. Depending on their age of adoption, children may experience some degree of transition and shock when entering new surroundings. For example, an infant of three weeks can experience sleep problems if the security and routine of her environment has been altered. In her research, Jodi Mindell [1999] discovered that a newborn baby is familiar with his mother's voice and the tone of her voice helps lull him and provide security after birth. When a newborn cannot hear his mother's voice, he may experience anxiety that disrupts sleep patterns.
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Change of Culture
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Different cultures have different concepts and routines where childcare is concerned. In some cultures, such as China, mothers will lie down with their baby until the baby falls asleep. When this child is adopted into a Western environment, the transition to her own bed may make sleep difficult. In other nations like Africa, parents tightly swaddle a baby so that her feet and arms cannot move. When adopted into a culture that does not practice this, the baby may feel disoriented, which can cause sleep problems.
Change of Environment
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If a child has been adopted from a children's home or a foster home, the child may be used to noise and having lots of people around him during sleep. Living in a nuclear family or vice versa may cause the child's normal sleep pattern to be disturbed.
Change of Time Zone and Caregiver
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Children adopted internationally may enter their new homes suffering from jet lag or simply a change in time zone. This causes them to become haphazard in their sleep patterns until a new routine is formed. A change in caretakers can also make a child anxious. This is not a reflection on the new caretaker but rather a response to the change in the child's life.
Causes of Sleep Disorders
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Adopted children may experience some post-traumatic stress symptoms when they enter a new environment and have to learn to trust new people. Symptoms may include overreacting to simple occurrences, expressing irrational fears, being too clingy, being too aloof or being hyper-vigilant. The adoptive parent should try to get the child's history so proper treatment for any sleep disorders can be determined. If typical causes of sleep disorders have been ruled out by a physician, caregivers should consider issues unique to adopted children.
Treatment of Sleep Disorders in Adopted Children
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Parents need to identify the cause of their child's sleep disorder and then treat it with help from psychologists and physicians. If a child is experiencing night terrors, he may have a fear of the dark that can be alleviated by leaving a night light on. If a child dislikes her bedroom or refuses to sleep in it alone, parents may want to slowly acclimate her to her new surroundings by staying with her until she falls asleep. Once trust is established, the child can be transitioned into sleeping alone.
The key to treating an adopted child's sleep disorder is understanding why it is occurring. The child's background must be studied and understood in depth.
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