| Description: |
This chapter, covering sleep from birth until eighteen years of age, describes the origins and importance of sleep in childhood for development, as well as presentations of medical and behavioral sleep disorders, sleep problems in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders, and the role of sleep in lifelong health. Appreciating human development requires an in-depth understanding of sleep. Sleep needs and make-up vary across the life course. Healthy sleep in children needs to be appropriately timed and of adequate duration, and occurring with regularity, with minimal disruption. Disrupted sleep can interrupt normal developmental processes, and poor sleep in childhood has many short- and long-term negative consequences. Adequate management is important to ensure minimal impact on growth, health, cognition, and behavior. |