Your Therapy Source Magazine for Pediatric Therapists October 2015 | Página 4

Sleep and Cerebral Palsy
CanChild has published another excellent resource which is entitled
Keeping Current In Sleep Issues Among Children with Cerebral
Palsy. Here are some highlights:
Studies show that rates of sleep disturbances in children with
cerebral palsy are actually quite similar to the general population
and affect about one third of children.
Certain aspects of CP are more frequently associated with sleep
disorders, including active epilepsy, severe movement problems
and level of spasticity, and intellectual disabilities.
Sleep issues in cerebral palsy can be divided into seven general
areas:
breathing disturbances
movement impairments
sleep wake cycles
epilepsy
sleep pattern impairments
psychological factors
pain and discomfort
Various studies have examined interventions to help with sleep issues such as:
postural needs bed
Adenotonsillectomy
massage
baclofen
melatonin
Cranial osteopathy and/or accupuncture
The researchers concluded that the quality of studies is generally quite low along with small
sample sizes. Melatonin appears to be the most widely prescribed drug for sleep
disturbances in children with CP and has the most consistent reports of improved sleep
latency and night waking.
You can read the entire publication at CanChild or
http://cpnet.canchild.ca/en/resources/KeepingCurrentonSleep.pdf.
Reference: Griffith, Yundt, & Rosenbaum. Keeping Current In Sleep Issues Among Children
with Cerebral Palsy. CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research. Retrieved from the
web on 9/26/15 at http://cpnet.canchild.ca/en/resources/KeepingCurrentonSleep.pdf
Autism Sleeps™ serves as a thorough resource
of sleep sensory strategies and suggestions for
preparing the “sleep environment”. Sample
bedtime and wake-up routines are provided as
templates, especially to guide parents of all
children with sleep difficulties. Find out more at
http://yourtherapysource.com/autismsleeps.html

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