sleeplessness in child

[Joy Lucas]

Dear Shannon, I think first of all sleeplessness needs to be defined.

Is it an inability to sleep at all
Is it a refusal to go to bed
Is it frequent waking
Is it waking too early
Is it extremely poor quality sleep such as due to restlessness or bad
dreams
Is it defined by sleep walking
Is it one child amongst others, an only child, all the children present
Is it emotional, physical or mental and how does this manifest itself
as a pattern throughout the times of sleeplessness, i.e. there are
often patterns evolving and the child repeats the same expression such
as crying, screaming, (fear) refusal to even try to sleep (some kind of
antagonism involved - diet or parenting), bad dreams (deeper fears) etc
How and when did the sleeplessness begin
Is the problem with the child, e.g. being bullied at home or school or
some other form of stress such as pain or physical issue, or is it with
the parent/s, siblings or ??
+ any other permutation.

Defining why a child cannot sleep is possibly half way to solving the
problem imo.

Then there are the common sense approaches and the more subtle methods
and finally the 'when all else fails and getting desperate' methods -
this latter including the need for homeopathy probably.

The common sense approaches would be to make sure that food isn't eaten
too near to bedtime; that any form of stimulation before bedtime is of
the appropriate nature (probably avoiding anything scary, keep it
gentle, loving, amusing and of a sharing nature). The type of bed the
child sleeps in might be wrong or uncomfortable; the room might not
feel good; the temperature of the room might be wrong; what the child
wears in bed might be uncomfortable. The home layout comes into
consideration - children like to be near their parents, either on the
same floor or above them, so that if parents sleep on a lower floor
this acts as a buffer in the child's mind. Children who sleep below
their parents often do not sleep well at all.

The light and air quality in a room at night is important. Children of
a young age are generally warm but poor sleep can be due to being too
cold or too hot. Dimmer switches can be very useful in creating a soft
atmosphere, too much light can be too stimulating, even a street lamp
can cause someone to wake often. The room should be quiet without any
distressing background noise, although some sound is often comforting.
'Companions' should always be encouraged as long as they are safe. Yes
I know some of this is really basic but if you have a child who cannot
sleep it needs to be stated.

More subtle methods would include getting the timing right when a child
should go to bed. Too early and they are bound to wake up, too late and
they lose sight of boundaries. Being forced to go to bed when you are
genuinely not tired is no fun so a fair amount of latitude should be
employed. One of the best ways is to create a very subtle count down
time in preparation for going to bed. Take lots of time over this and
share as much as possible - this can be chatting, stories, bathing,
cuddling, quiet games etc. With an older child the chatting is
invaluable as it might give an indication of the cause of the
sleeplessness. Maybe doing drawings together will also allow for some
expression to come out as an indication. I would also include these
last 2 in the desperate measures as well.

If you suspect that some vague physical sx are being expressed that are
really connected to emotional causes then sometimes massage is useful.
You can't always assume that a child will tell you why it can't sleep.
If in doubt, ask, talk to the child, even if the child is really young
this basic communication shouldn't be overlooked.

Desperate measures come into play when a family really cannot locate
the reason why a child isn't sleeping but often the parent/s need
outside help for this. There is always a reason for everything but one
can't always see it and this is why it is essential that a homeopath
delve into the family situation. All that you mention below is a
typical pitfall of a homeopath being somewhat judgemental. What might
emerge could be issues that can be cured homeopathically and at least
they would be identified as maintaining causes if there is no
willingness for the whole family to partake in the healing process. A
full case taking is a full case taking!

It seems silly to put off going to a homeopath if you are at the
desperate measures stage but sometimes the phase of insomnia is just
that, a passing phase that doesn't always need homeopathic
intervention.

Some parent/s won't opt for the sharing bed tactic because they fear it
will become habit forming and even harder to break so other means could
include an audio tape quietly offering soothing sounds or stories.
There are some amazing light works available that are also soft and
soothing and would be appropriate for night time use, there are beds
that rock electronically. These devices might be targeted for children
with extreme special needs as they might not be using a lot of energy
through the day and thus have little need for sleep at night (that in
itself being a maintaining cause that homeopathy might not be able to
deal with). These measures are also devised with a view towards the
parent/s being able to get sleep as well because an insomniac child
effects the whole family usually.

However there are always those children who haven't had enough
stimulation throughout the day and crave it at night (guess the miasm)
and some family's can cope with this and even encourage it - a shortish
length of time where the child gets up and out of bed, completes a task
and then is ok enough to go back to bed and sleep. If the needs are
extremely special, sometimes it is what you have to do. To be honest an
insomniac child IS a child with special needs, even if it is for just a
short stage within their life.

Hopefully one would seek homeopathic help when the situation becomes
inappropriate for all concerned and everything else has been tried.

Like you say, it is never that cut and dried. Best wishes, Joy

http://www.homeopathicmateriamedica.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Shannon Nelson]

Joy,
Terrific ideas, thanks!
Our little insomniacs both did *much* better when we let them sleep
with us for the first few years. The younger I used to read to for up
to two hours every night, as it was the only thing that would keep him
on the bed long enough to begin feeling drowsy! (And wow is *he*
verbal now, LOL! And remedies finally did help the sleep thing, tho it
took a while...)
Shannon

[J.VENKATASUBRAMANIAN]

Joy, Wonderful !

There is one general message for everyone there besides the
sleepless child and her parents. That is - the need of the drug and
when exactly it is required. Aph 3 of the Organon states that very
clearly.

When the situation is not threatening and you are allowed to lean
back and think, all these have to be considered -FIRST. Every
budding physician has to keep that in mind.
Thank you.
Venkat
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