Below are my top 10 Key Insights from the Sleep Conference. Read to the end to see the Bonus points.
1. INSOMONIA: Children who have insomnia have an increased likelihood of insomnia in adolescence. If you reduce insomnia in adolescence, it decreases the development of anxiety and depression in young adulthood. Start by eliminating insomnia in infants and children to promote improved mental health in our society.
2. ACTIVITY: The more sedentary one's lifestyle, the less sleep one achieves. On the flip side, the more activity one has (as long as it's not too close to bedtime), the better sleep one will achieve.
3. MENTAL HEALTH: There is a bidirectional relationship between sleep health and mental health. That means if you are sleeping well, you are more likely to improve your mental health, and the inverse is true as well; if you are not sleeping well, you are more likely to diminish your mental health.
4. SOCIAL JETLAG: Social jetlag occurs when there is a discrepancy between the body's need for sleep and the social demands it is subjected to. This results in a lack of predictability of sleep-wake timings and a circadian rhythm misalignment over the course of the week compared to the weekend.
5. DEVICES: Passively watching TV or videos is not as bad for sleep as video games, but ideally, the goal should be to eliminate both two hours before bedtime.
6. LIGHT: Light is an important modulator of sleep. The brain does not know if its real or artificial. Keep that in mind.
7. MEMORY: The hippocampus (a part of your brain that is responsible for memory) will temporarily hold on to memories and during sleep send them to the cerebral cortex for consolidation. During the appropriate amount of sleep, memories are consolidated and organized. If adequate amount of time is not devoted to sleep, energy is spent trying to juggle those memories and they may not be consolidated properly.
8. LEARNING: It is harder for those who spend less time in the N2 Stage of sleep (DEEP sleep) to learn. For every hour of sleep deprivation you accumulate, there is a decreased ability to learn and consolidate memories.
9. NIGHT TERRORS: There is a disassociation between slow wave and deep wave sleep and the solution to target night terrors is to increase the number of hours of sleep per night. So that may mean an earlier bedtime.
10. PREGNANCY: It is important for pregnant mothers to focus on their sleep because the fetus is developing a circadian rhythm in utero aligned with Mom's.
BONUS #1: A large percentage of children with insomnia are due to sleep-onset associations that parents inadvertently introduce, thinking they are helping the child sleep better. Work to gradually eliminate sleep-onset associations such as nursing, rocking, or laying with the child to sleep for improved sleep and diminished overnight wakeups.
BONUS #2: Independent sleepers achieve an extra 30 minutes of sleep per night.
BONUS #3: Decreased sleep quantity increases the potential for obesity.
Below are some pictures I took of the slides during the conference (sorry for the poor quality), but all the pictures were taken with permission). Although the pics are a bit technical, they pack a great deal of information.
Board-Certified Pediatrician
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Behavioral Sleep Specialist
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Sleepless in Nola
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Dr. Nilong Vyas
Sleepless in Nola understands the diverse sleep needs of all children. If your children struggle to get sleep, we are here to support you. Make a free consultation appointment.
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