ADHD

Children with ADHD often have sleep problems because the same nervous system difficulties that affect attention, impulse control, emotional regulation, and hyperactivity can also interfere with sleep. Some children cannot slow their minds down at night. Others have bedtime battles, insomnia, restless sleep, anxiety, nightmares, medication-related sleep disruption, or breathing problems during sleep. There is another important point parents need to understand: poor sleep can make ADHD symptoms worse. In some children, disrupted sleep can even look like ADHD. A tired adult may look sleepy. A tired child may look restless, emotional, impulsive, oppositional, or unable to focus. That is why I believe every child with ADHD symptoms deserves a careful sleep history. Not every child with ADHD has a sleep disorder, but sleep is too foundational to ignore.