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It's an unforgettable scene in "The Blind Side," when the future NFL star Michael Oher tells his benefactor - played by Academy Award winning actress Sandra Bullock - that he's never had a bed of his own before.  One in 50 children is homeless in the United States every year, according to a report from The National Center on Family Homelessness, which estimates more than 1.5 million children are without a home.(1.) Moreover, the agency predicts that as foreclosures and layoffs continue, the number of children and families without homes in the United States is likely to increase.

In an effort to provide those in need with a good night's sleep, 1800Mattress.com, a family-owned national mattress company, is taking a leadership role by partnering with HomeAid, the leading national non-profit provider of housing for today's homeless, to provide more than 500 beds to shelters nationwide.

"At 1800Mattress.com, we believe that everyone is entitled to a good night's sleep and we are proud to support HomeAid as they conquer homelessness one build at a time," said Adam Blank, 1800Mattress.com's Chief Operating Officer.  "A sound night's sleep starts with a great mattress and we are dedicated to providing those in need with a place to sleep at night while they rebuild their lives during the day."

While 1800Mattress.com has already provided beds to HomeAid projects in Orange County, CA, and Houston, the partnership officially begins at HomeAid Atlanta's Phoenix Pass build in Atlanta, Georgia.  A dedication ceremony for the Phoenix Pass project, one of HomeAid's largest projects, is set for April 14 with support from former Atlanta Mayor, Shirley Franklin.  The report by the National Center on Family Homelessness, which analyzed data from 2005-06, found that Georgia was one of the states most affected by child homelessness.

"We are grateful for the support of 1800Mattress.com as 2010 is poised to be a busy year for our chapters nationwide," said Jeffrey Slavin, CEO of HomeAid. "The folks in our shelters list a bed as one of the comforts of home that they miss the most, so we are excited to help them rest easier via this partnership."

HomeAid was founded in 1989. The HomeAid mission is to build and maintain dignified housing where homeless families and individuals can rebuild their lives. This is accomplished through the donation of construction services and materials from members of the homebuilding industry.  To date, the organization has provided transitional housing for more than 100,000 individuals including those temporarily out of work, abused children, victims of domestic violence, at-risk teens, people living with HIV/AIDS and victims of natural disasters.  HomeAid currently has projects in 15 states nationwide.

About Phoenix Pass:

Phoenix Pass is a nonprofit organization designed as a partnership between First Baptist Church of Conyers and Rockdale Emergency Relief.  The mission of Phoenix Pass is to serve the needs of families experiencing temporary homelessness by giving them an opportunity to reestablish self-sufficiency in a residential setting. The focus of the program is to empower homeless families with supportive services and the resources to recover and rebuild a productive, stable lifestyle for themselves and their family.  Phoenix Pass operates under the vision that those who have successfully completed the program will remain in the Conyers-Rockdale County area to live, work and contribute back to the community the education, life skills and job skills acquired during their tenure in the program.  It is expected that residents will transition from Phoenix Pass into the community as productive and self-sufficient citizens.  

The Phoenix Pass complex will eventually accommodate up to 90 people at any given time, providing housing for up to two years along with case management, a mentorship program, life skills classes and aftercare programs.  Phoenix Pass is located on the campus of Light House Village in Conyers, and is one of three nonprofit programs on the 27-acre campus. 

For some, the phrase "spring is in the air" is quite literal. When the winter snow melts and flowers bloom, pollen and other materials can wreak havoc on those suffering from seasonal allergies, usually causing a habit called "mouth breathing." The physical, medical and social problems associated with mouth breathing are not recognized by most health care professionals, according to a study published in the January/February 2010 issue of General Dentistry, the peer-reviewed clinical journal of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD).

Dentists typically request that their patients return every six months, which means that some people see their dentist more frequently than they see their physician. As a result, dentists may be the first to identify the symptoms of mouth breathing. And, because dentists understand the problems associated with mouth breathing, they can help prevent the adverse effects.

"Allergies can cause upper airway obstruction, or mouth breathing, in patients," said Yosh Jefferson, DMD, author of the study. "Almost every family has someone with mouth breathing problems."

Over time, children whose mouth breathing goes untreated may suffer from abnormal facial and dental development, such as long, narrow faces and mouths, gummy smiles, gingivitis and crooked teeth. The poor sleeping habits that result from mouth breathing can adversely affect growth and academic performance. As Dr. Jefferson notes in his article, "Many of these children are misdiagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and hyperactivity." In addition, mouth breathing can cause poor oxygen concentration in the bloodstream, which can cause high blood pressure, heart problems, sleep apnea and other medical issues.

"Children who mouth breathe typically do not sleep well, causing them to be tired during the day and possibly unable to concentrate on academics," Dr. Jefferson said. "If the child becomes frustrated in school, he or she may exhibit behavioral problems."

Treatment for mouth breathing is available and can be beneficial for children if the condition is caught early. A dentist can check for mouth breathing symptoms and swollen tonsils. If tonsils and/or adenoids are swollen, they can be surgically removed by an ear-nose-throat (ENT) specialist. If the face and mouth are narrow, dentists can use expansion appliances to help widen the sinuses and open nasal airway passages.

"After surgery and/or orthodontic intervention, many patients show improvement in behavior, energy level, academic performance, peer acceptance and growth," says Leslie Grant, DDS, spokesperson for the AGD. "Seeking treatment for mouth breathing can significantly improve quality of life."

At this time, many health care professionals are not aware of the health problems associated with mouth breathing. If you or your child suffers from this condition, speak with a health care professional who is knowledgeable about mouth breathing.

To learn more about oral health, visit www.KnowYourTeeth.com.

The Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) is a professional association of more than 35,000 general dentists dedicated to staying up to date in the profession through continuing education. Founded in 1952, the AGD has grown to become the second-largest dental association in the United States, and it is the only association that exclusively represents the needs and interest of general dentists. More than 772,000 persons are employed directly in the field of dentistry. A general dentist is the primary care provider for patients of all ages and is responsible for the diagnosis, treatment, management and overall coordination of services related to patients' oral health needs. For more information about the AGD, please visit www.agd.org.

An average American child spends as much time watching television every week as much time he spends in school- 25 hours. Research shows that watching television for as less as 2 hours a day causes significant sleep problems in school aged children.

Parents now a days are preoccupied with such a lot of work that they are under too much pressure to keep a track of their children's daily activities and so are unaware of the impact of television on children's over all health.

Children who watch too much of television are not interested in going out and playing football or riding bikes, or even just running around with friends. They don't read books to fall asleep but sleep while watching television.

Having a television right in the bedrooms is one of the reasons for excessive television viewing and disturbed sleep. This in turn causes daytime sleepiness, lack of concentration at school and disinterest in mixing and playing with their peer group.

Pic courtesy hoyasmeg on www.flickr.com

 

The greatest concern of every parent is to see their children in bed at a specific time, and that they should learn to sleep on their own, besides they should also have an undisturbed sleep. However to attain this goal a sleeping routine has to be established so that both the parents and child sleep peacefully through the night.
Fix a specific time to go to bed and wake up in the morning.
Introduce them to a physical activity in the daytime and not just before the sleep time.
Do not indulge in any form of exciting activity just before sleeping as this might charge the kids and hinder their ability to sleep.
Ample time should be given to finish the current activity so that they focus on the sleeping routine.
Make sure a quiet time is allotted before going to bed, for the child to say his favorite poem or read his favorite book, or may be say his daily prayer.
Some kids find it comforting to sleep with a particular toy or book.
Try and let the child sleep by himself by reassuring him that you are there in his vicinity and will be present for his smallest need.
Unless and until a sleeping ritual is determined the kids will not sleep properly and will not be fresh for the next day. Kids are kids so be patient and understanding and they will follow soon. 

Pic courtesy peasap on www.flickr.com

Obstructive sleep apnea is common among children, and those suffering from sleeplessness fair poorly in their day to day life. To overcome this sleep problem a study conducted in Washington proved that tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy is one of the best ways to improve the life of small children.
Those suffering from OSP are not able to breathe normally throughout the night and eventually start snoring very loudly. The study showed how the children responded to these surgeries and the impact of the surgery on their sleeping pattern.
The age and ethnicity of the children were also taken into consideration as they are potential factors that can affect the diagnosis of OSA and the impact of the surgery.
Enlargement of tonsils and adenoids caused the upper airway to collapse during sleep, disturbing the normalcy in breathing among children with normal weight.
OSA has a large impact on the quality of life, similar to chronic asthma or rheumatoid arthritis, and this surgery has a profound effect on the lives of the children.
The effect is the same on boys as well as girls and approximately 2- 4 % of children aged between 4- 6 years are affected by it. Not all the children with sleep apnea have behavioral issues; those scoring way outside normal parameters tend to benefit the most in OSA cases.
However even post operation a consistent follow up is a must to avoid any future health problems, or recurrence of obstructive sleep apnea.
Pic courtesy AlexPears on www.flickr.com

Research shows that children with autism suffer from sleeplessness than their peer group. Study reveals that approximately 70% autistic children have some or the other sleep related problem as compared to 50% in the other children. These children are more likely to be sluggish, disoriented after waking, and have more sleep disturbance than normal children.
As more and more children are diagnosed with neurobiological disorders, they are prone to have disturbed sleep. In addition, the problems and symptoms that characterize the disorders will be greatly exacerbated by a lack of sleep. Most of the children with special needs are stressed, as they are trying to cope up with the other kids and their schoolwork. They are continuously working on their behavioural aspects that truly exhaust them.
In addition, the medication taken as stimulants tends to contribute towards this lack of sleep. If such sleep problems continue to plague these children, one must resort to proper alternative medication and therapies.
All children are at their best with healthy sleeping habits, so it is advisable to set up a consistent sleeping schedule for autistic children. It does require special care and patience but nothing can be more important than the health of our apple of the eye.

Pic courtesy Jeanquingwenloo on www.flickr.com

Babies are the best gift anyone can have, they are the most adorable, innocent, and happy beings on this planet. When they are out of their mother’s womb which is their security zone they need some time tome to get in tune with the outside world. One of the main concerns of any parent is their little ones sleep, because as mentioned in the earlier posts it takes about three months to six months to get into a fixed sleeping pattern and sometimes even two years.
There are two schools of thoughts for encouraging babies to sleep peacefully, the cry out technique or the grin and bear it solution. The advocates of cry out solution make it sound so simple, as you just need to let the baby cry out for a few nights and then the baby starts sleeping undisturbed. If only it was so simple every one would be able to apply the same rule.
Research shows that it might be effortless for some parents, but most of the babies cry so relentlessly and violently, that they even vomit on such occasions. Some of them feel that night time crying affects their daytime as the babies tend to be more clingy and cranky. Many parents resort to this solution thinking it will get their babies and themselves a good and long sleep.
Nevertheless can any parent bear to see their bundle of joy crying, for reasons unknown to themselves? I think no and you all will vouch for the same. So let’s think of some other way to tackle this issue in the coming days
Pic courtesy www.flickr.com and Idychapman

A baby right from his birth till one and a half month tries to get acquainted with the new world and its way of living. As a reason of this most of the infants have a disturbed sleeping pattern in the first 1 month. At the end of 2- 3 months he gets acclimatized and start sleeping a little peacefully.
The difficulty in sleeping is associated with night wakings, which occur due to a learned pattern requiring parent’s intervention to fall asleep. Most of the infants are restless during the night because they suffer from colic, an allergy, ear infection or any sort of viral.

Although for the babies it is nothing to do with insomnia as it is a part of growing up.
Night wakings or sleep arousals occur in all age groups of children, right from infants to adolescents; the point to be noted is, whether a child can signal to his parents that he requires their assistance to sleep. If a toddler cannot or is unable to communicate to his or her parent and cannot be pacified then it is matter of concern requiring medical aid.
Since children of this age do not perceive these night wakings as a problem sleep difficulty in children does not meet the definition of insomnia.

Pic courtesy aberator from www.flickr.com

It is a known fact that the cause of any behaviour seen in adults is rooted to childhood experiences, genetics, and parental behaviour. Similarly, the children who have sleeplessness in their childhood are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and aggression in their adolescence. In a study conducted of children aged between 4- 6 years parents rated their sleep patterns and any unusual behaviour on different scales. The same children reported later at the age of 17- 30 years their own emotional and behavioural pattern. The study suggested that the parental reports of children sleeping less hours in their childhood scored high on scales of depression and anxiety than those who did. Reasons for the sleep related problems cannot be known in the infant stage as the infant is not verbally expressive, so it the physicians duty to inquire about any sleep disorder in the early stages of child development.
If any serious abnormality in the initial phase of life is observed, steps to eradicate any type of future risks should be taken immediately 

Pic courtesy www.flickr.com by Basse911   

A study estimates that 2% to 4% of children in the United States under the age of ten suffer from childhood sleep apnea. However, the symptoms may be similar to other childhood disorders such as the tendency to resist going to sleep, restless or interrupted sleep patterns, bedwetting, irritability, depression, a diminished ability to learn and thrive academically, and excessive frustration or aggression. 

This may cause the children to be misdiagnosed to have behavioral disorders such as Oppositional-Defiant Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), while the childhood sleep apnea goes untreated.

Pic courtesy Neil Wood on flickr.com

Just before the biggest test of the year for Indiana school pupils, the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress, or ISTEP Plus, experts say kids should put their books away now and get some rest.

About 700,000 pupils in grades three through ten begin taking the exams today.

Educators recommend students don't stress out over the tests and instead get plenty of rest. The National Sleep Foundation recommends children ages five through 12 get ten to eleven hours of sleep a night, and teens should get nine hours.

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The Family Doctor site provides information about nightmares and night terrors among kids.  Nightmares are scary dreams that most children have from time to time. One in every four kids has nightmares more than once a week. Most nightmares happen late in the sleep period, between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Your child may come to you for comfort and may be able to tell you what has frightened her.

A child who suffers from a night terror will probably wake up screaming, and may be sweating and breathing fast. Night terrors usually happen during deep sleep, between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. Your child may scream out while still asleep, and maybe confused when awoken. She may not be able to tell you what has frightened her.

Nightmares and night terrors could be triggered by stressful emotional or physical events. If these persist for over six months, you should discuss them with your child's doctor.

Make sure that your home is safe for a child who has nightmares or night terrors. Use toddler gates on staircases and don't use bunk beds for children who suffer from nightmares.

A new research study conducted by the John Hopkins University shows a link between apnea in kids and brain impairment that could hinder their ability to learn new tasks. Children with apnea, often manifested as a habit of snoring, perform significantly worse on IQ tests and tests to measure verbal working memory and verbal fluency.

Using a special type of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the researchers found that those children with sleep apnea had significant changes in two brain regions associated with higher mental function: the hippocampus and the right frontal cortex. They also determined that the children had altered ratios of three brain chemicals -- N-aceytl aspartate, creatine and choline -- which are indicative of brain damage.

"Executive function is the ability to take an old memory and put it to use in a new situation," said Dr. Ann Halbower, medical director of the pediatric sleep disorders program at the Hopkins' Children's Center in Baltimore. "It's what makes smart people smart. The clinical implications are that doctors need to understand that sleep apnea is more of a problem that we thought it was. It's not just a disease of old people."

Because untreated sleep apnea appears to impair brain chemistry, its effects could be permanent, Halbower added.

"We can only assume that it could turn an otherwise smart kid into a mediocre kid, which could mark him for life," she said.

But it's also possible that these effects are reversible. Halbower's next study will try to determine whether sleep-apnea treatment can restore normal brain chemistry and cognitive function.

The standard treatment for sleep apnea in children is surgical removal of enlarged tonsils and adenoids, which can obstruct breathing. Other treatments include removal of excess tissue in the back of the throat or nose and the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines to maintain normal airflow during sleep.

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We reported in a previous post about Winston-Salem and Forsythe County schools starting later to enable kids to sleep better.

Now, North Kingstown schools will start later in the fall so that students can get the sleep they need.

Concerned about student performance, officials approved changes in timings so that the high school starts 25 minutes later this year. The School Committee Wednesday approved the new 7:30 a.m. start time, compared to the previous 7:05 start. Students will get out at 2 p.m.

Studies have shown that teenagers have different sleep patterns than adults, and often cannot fall asleep until after 11 p.m. In March, the National Sleep Foundation polled teenagers and found they were napping in class and feeling depressed -- all because they weren't getting enough sleep.

"Who can do math at 7 in the morning?" asked School Committee member Denise A. Coppa. A local study shows that first-period math students don't do as well as students in later classes, she said.

During a May School Committee meeting, more than a dozen students urged the committee to start school later. In the winter, students walk to school in the dark and slurp coffee to wake up, they said.

Middle school students will also start school 25 minutes later, at 8:30 a.m. The Forest Park and Quidnesset Elementary Schools will  start 45 minutes later. At Davisville and Hamilton Elementary Schools, students will start school 10 minutes later.

Only students at the Stony Lane and Fishing Cove Elementary Schools will go to school at the same time as last year: 9:20 a.m.

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Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have found that frequent headaches in children appear to be associated with sleep problems.
More than two-thirds of children studied who suffer from chronic daily headache also experience sleep disturbance, especially delay in sleep onset. For children with episodic headaches, one-fifth had sleep problems.

"What's novel in our study is the finding that a high percentage of patients with headache have sleep disturbance," says Kenneth Mack, senior study investigator. " The number of patients who have headaches and also sleep disturbance surprised us. They also have the same sleep disturbance: a delay in sleep onset."

The researchers undertook this study to scientifically study their observation in the clinic that many children suffer from both headaches and sleep problems.

The investigators do not yet know which problem comes first, sleep problems or headache, as sleep problems make the headaches worse, and vice versa. They could have a common cause, or one problem could be an early sign of the other.

Treatment must be simultaneous for both conditions, using medicine and non-medicine approaches, says Mack. " It's going to be hard to control the headaches till you get the sleep problems under control either with medication or non-medication treatment," he says.

Key non-medication treatments include attention to maintaining routine in the child's schedule and developing good sleep hygiene, according to Lenora Lehwald, study investigator. These include - making the child's bedroom a relaxing place and avoiding exciting stimuli like TVs and video games in the bedroom, and having a routine for calming down in the last hour before bedtime. Activities like reading make children drowsy and help prepare for bedtime.

If a child with both headache and sleep problems requires medicine, Mack prefers migraine medication that also helps with sleep issues.

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Pic courtesy www.flickr.com

A national survey this year on the sleep patterns of adolescents (ages 11-17) by the National Sleep Foundation shows that most do not get the optimal amount of sleep for top performance and good health. Now some schools in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County are taking cognizance and making variations in school schedules to help kids get more sleep.

Here are some of the highlights of the survey:

• Just one in five gets the optimal nine hours of sleep on school nights.
• Sleep deprivation increases as adolescents get older. Sixth-graders get an average of 8.4 hours of sleep on school nights, and 12th graders get 6.9 hours.
• Over the course of a week, high-school seniors miss 11.7 hours of sleep.
• More than one-quarter (28 percent) of high-school students fall asleep in school, 22 percent fall asleep doing homework, and 14 percent arrive late or miss school because they overslept.
• More than one quarter (28 percent) of adolescents say they're too tired to exercise.

Why are America's teens so sleep-deprived?

When children reach adolescence, their internal clocks, or circadian rhythms, change so that they naturally fall asleep later at night and wake later in the morning, according to the NSF.

More than half (54 percent) of high-school seniors go to bed at 11 p.m. or later on school nights, according to the NSF survey. Yet most still get up at 6:30 a.m. to get to school on time, according to the survey.

Four years ago the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools moved the start time for high schools from 7:45 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. so students could sleep later in the morning.

It seems to be working.

"We have analyzed it very extensively," said Marty Ward, the system's program-evaluation manager. "We have surveyed all the students in our high schools every spring for the last four years, and we have found that they are sleeping a little more, 34 minutes, a night."

"What research has shown is that the students don't change the time they go to sleep when you change things like what time school starts," Ward said. "But they will sleep as long as they can in the mornings."

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Financial debt is not the only problem for students in college, most of them are in a sleep debt, according to William Dement, chief of the division of sleep medicine at Stanford University.

When students sleep less and less hours, the lost hours will accumulate into a sleep debt that progressively becomes harder to pay back. Too much sleep debt will result in the person becoming overly tired.

Dement also said that most students don't get the sleep they need, and mistakenly attribute their tiredness to stress or virus or boredom.

Sleep loss can also affect memory. Sheila Osterman, supervisor of the Sleep Disorder Center in Lafayette, says, "One process of Rapid Eye Movement sleep takes short term memory and turns it into long term memory. So getting a good night's sleep before a test will help you recall things better."

Sleep deprivation can also cause mood changes and bring on pessimism, stress and anger. If not contained in time, these can lead to anxiety disorders or depression. Sleep deprivation is also associated with weight gain.

Driving becomes risky for sleep deprived persons, and is reckoned to be as dangerous as driving while intoxicated.

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