If a child hasn’t had enough sleep, a study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience suggests that it may have an impact on their cognitive development or brain maturation in the future.
As reported by EurekAlert!, “after staying up too late, both children and adults need a period of deep sleep to recover”, but what researchers discovered is that sleep deprivation impacts the brain differently in adults and kids.
Is your child sleep deprived?
While it’s early days in this research area – experts are continuing to delve into what does the difference of sleep deprivation between adults and kids have on children – it does serve as a reminder that a lack of sleep can instigate an array of different issues for a tired tot – and their parents.
According to Better Health Victoria, sleep deprivation in children tends to differ between children and adults in that kids speed up rather than slow down when they’re tired. Here are some sleep-deprivation symptoms in your child to look out for:
• Moodiness and irritability
• Temper tantrums
• The tendency to emotionally ‘explode’ at the slightest provocation
• Over-activity and hyperactive behaviour
• Daytime naps
• Grogginess when they wake up in the morning
• Reluctance to get out of bed in the morning
If you want to learn more about how sleep deprivation can impact your child, and how to treat it, visit your local GP for more information.
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