Sleep problems among children are common, sometimes avoidable

Zafer Soultan, MD
Up to half of children have poor sleeping habits and behaviors, with about 10 percent having an actual disorder, says Zafer Soultan, MD, director of pediatric pulmonary and sleep medicine at Upstate‘s Golisano Children‘s Hospital. Sometimes these issues stem from physical problems, but often they involve youngsters who never learn to sleep alone, says Soultan, who also describes how disorders such as apnea can be diagnosed in Upstate‘s pediatric sleep lab and how teens can display sleep problems as their body‘s rhythms clash with school schedules.