Children often startle with difficulty sleeping, when is it worrying?

Many young children show signs of sleep or startle, crying. The phenomenon of children with difficulty sleeping can come from abnormal causes and affect their health.

The phenomenon of startled children crying while sleeping can come from a biological or medical cause. In particular, the cause of pathology should be given special attention by parents.

1.1 Biological and environmental causes

• Natural reflexes: Startling is one of the natural reflexes of babies at birth, like breastfeeding reflexes, finding the mother's breast,… This reflex is called Moro, characteristic and common in newborn babies. Because after birth, the baby switches from the environment in the mother's uterus to the new environment, so it is possible to create startled reflexes to protect themselves against various threats. This is a normal and harmless reflex. This reflex will disappear after the child is 3-6 months old;
• Psychological insecurity: When your baby is nervous, anxious, scared, or feels unsafe, he often dreams of nightmares, is startled when he sleeps;
• Loud noise: The child may be startled by the loud noises outside or when the baby is being carried down to the mattress bed unexpectedly.

1.2 Causes of pathology

• Gastric reflux: Is one of the common causes of children's difficulty sleeping;
• Calcium deficiency: Leading to rickets, babies are often jerky and startled when sleeping. In this case, the child has some other manifestations such as slow teething, or sweating and coronary hair loss;
• Sick: Sleeping or startled babies may be due to the manifestation of certain diseases such as otitis ,pharyngitis, helminthiasis,…;
• Have a number of diseases: Children with heart disease, debilitating body, prolonged anemia,… prone to panic attacks and jerks when sleeping;
• Damaged central nervous system: Neurological problems such as damaged nerves or congenital neurological disorders can cause infant symptoms or sleep startle.

The phenomenon of children being constantly startled and crying in the middle of the night occurs often will cause quite a lot of consequences such as:

• Slow weight gain: Deep sleep is very important for the process of restoring the health and comprehensive development of young children. When the child sleeps well, it stimulates the still glands to secrete growth hormones 4-5 times higher than normal. This helps children gain weight and develop better height. If the child is crying a lot, or startled when sleeping, the quality of sleep will not guarantee, affecting the physical development of the child;
• Decreased perception: The brain of babies is very vulnerable because in the first year since the baby was born, the brain is not really complete. At this time, the development of the brain is susceptible to a stimulating factors. Children who fall asleep or startle and cry in the middle of the night are more likely to learn and handle situations than those who sleep well in the first months of life. Not only that, the phenomenon or startle when sleeping in a child is also the cause of consequences such as impaired production of growth hormone, suppression of the immune system and digestion (children are prone to sickness and infections; apnea, high blood pressure;
• Increased risk of sudden death in young children: The phenomenon of young children crying constantly, not being tempted easily causes respiratory inhibition, apnea and an increased risk of sudden death;
• Babies are prone to hunger, reducing breast milk: Many children are startled and disturbed in the middle of the night, but when they are breastfed, they will not eat. This is because the child sleeps not well, reducing the production of growth hormone that suppresses cravings, which leads to a decrease in suckling reflexes. And the accompanying consequence is that breast milk is reduced, in the long run the mother may lose milk.

During the period of 0-3 months of age, startling reflexes when sleeping can cause the baby to wake up in the middle of the night, affecting the quality of sleep of the child and parents. Not only that, children who are startled when sleeping also have many consequences such as slow growth, susceptible to emotional disorders, affecting physical and intellectual development. Therefore, parents need to pay special attention to the quality of their child's sleep to take appropriate measures.

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SEE MORE:

• Why do children have sleep disorders?
• Infant Sleep Disorders: What to Know
• Treatment of sleep disorders in children