I had read a column a few days ago about a possible connection between child sleep disorders and their sleeping position, and found the information intriguing. Let’s see what the link seems to be.

Everybody must have at one time or another seen their child or someone else’s child sleeping in odd positions. It is normal to see the children sleeping in weird positions, and many times seeing them sleeping that way brings a smile to our lips. However, did you know that each such position means that the baby might develop a child sleep disorder sometimes later in life?

Surprised? The statement took me by surprise, too! Yet it seems to be true. A number of medical studies have been carried out that show that there is a clear and definite connection between the way a child sleeps (when they sleep in strange positions) and an imminent child sleep disorder.

Night terrors are most common in children from three to eight years old, and it is important to be able to distinguish night terrors from nightmares, as they are more likely to occur during times of stress or fatigue.

In the act of somnambulism, the child will sit up in bed with their eyes open and yet they are ‘unseeing’; this is otherwise often known as sleepwalking. These disorders typically occur in the school-aged child, and more often in boys than girls. Activity of the child during somnambulism may range from a purposeless restlessness in bed to actual walking throughout the house or location.

Nocturnal enuresis, which is more commonly known as bed-wetting, is easily one of the most prevalent and persistent sleep problems in children. This sleep disorder is classified as primary when the child has never been persistently dry through the night and as secondary when the child only starts wetting the bed after one year of continence.

One sleeping position remained unexplained, i.e. when the child sleeps with eyes open. There have been many research studies on this aspect, but no connection was found to any child sleep disorder yet. Nonetheless, the position is quite scary and parents tend to get worried about it.

The report says that there have been sufficient research studies that agree with the above findings to advise parents to seek medical advice as soon as they observe any such type of strange sleeping habits. This could be an advance warning of an incipient child sleep disorder, which if caught early, can be totally avoided.