Many older children who enter the U.S. foster care system have sleep issues. Sleeping issues include trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, night terrors, and bedwetting to name a few. It shouldn’t be surprising that they have sleep issues considering the trauma they have experienced. Many children who have suffered sexual abuse were awakened in their beds from sleep to be raped by a trusted adult. Who knows how long sleep anxiety may last after that type of experience. For those who did not suffer that type of abuse you can still understand their unease.

They... more

Does your adopted child have a big neck compared to peers? The University of Virginia recently completed a study indicating that these children are more likely to develop a sleep related breathing disorder than their peers are. These disorders affect breathing during sleep, the most common being obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). A pediatric sleep center identified 215 children between 18 months and 18 years old for the study. The researchers who studied these children identified some common trends among those who had a sleep related breathing disorder. Apparently, neck... more

Researchers from the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands wanted to know if an adenotonsillectomy would reduce levels of potentially harmful bacteria growing in the back of the throat. Therefore, they conducted a study involving 300 randomly selected children who suffered from repeat throat infections. The children ages two to eight years either underwent an adenotonsillectomy or received careful follow-up care. Throats were swabbed at the beginning of the study and at three months and... more

This advice falls into the category of “wish I knew then what I know now”. Here are some tips for the chronically sleep-deprived moms of adopted kids.

1. Don’t wait too long to get help. Sleep is crucial to your physical and mental health and that of your child’s. Talk to your child’s pediatrician or other medical professional, especially those familiar with sleep/adoption issues. 2. Don’t buy into Ferberizing. For children who may have a history of trauma, abandonment or multiple placements, sleep issues... more

As an extremely restless and wired LuLu was bouncing around my house at midnight, and still at 2 am and still at 3:30 am…I was both highly annoyed and reminded of the way things used to be. The days of little to no sleep!

My fellow Blogger, Angela recently blogged about sleep issues. I think these issues are more common than adoptive parents are told. In our case, LuLu didn’t sleep a solid 8+ hours for the first three years home. She slept 2-3 hour stints throughout... more

Are you worried about your child wetting the bed? Primary nocturnal enuresis is the most common form of bedwetting. Between five and seven million children in the United States, over the age of six years, wet their beds every night. However, research indicates less than two percent of children will still wet the bed once they reach puberty, or the age of fifteen years. Children under the age of five years will wet their beds as a part of their normal development.

Boys... more

Melatonin is available in tablet form in the pharmacy area of major grocery stores without a prescription. I usually find it next to the natural vitamins and herbs. It’s inexpensive; I just bought a bottle of 120 3mg tablets at WalMart for $5.47. I noticed that the bottle says not for use by children less than 12 years of age. However, my pediatrician wrote out a “prescription” for my seven year old for me to keep at my house; Directing me to give her one 3mg tablet about an hour before bedtime. It has worked really well for my... more