We talk to clinical child psychologist Professor Michael Gradisar of Flinders University in Australia about his new book which looks at evidence-based techniques and strategies to help school age children with insomnia, parasomnias and other sleep problems.

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Episode Highlights

* 02:04 Introducing Professor Michael Gradisar

* 03:44 Dr Leon Lack and Flinders University history of sleep education

* 05:38 Specialising in sleep interventions for school age children

* 08:36 What types of sleep problems do school age kids experience? 

* 11:30 What is 'normal' sleep for school age kids, and when is it 'problematic'?

* 14:39 Sleep hygiene basics for children, caffeine and soft drinks 

* 15:59 More sleep hygiene tips: naps, sleep routines, technology

* 17:53 Screen time, blue light and sleep: why the associations are not as obvious as you might think

* 22:09 How do you decide when it's a good time to put your child to bed?

* 24:32 Chronotype, and why all kids' sleep need are different

* 27:07 Sleep restriction therapy - does it work for children?

* 33:25 Bedtime restriction therapy for kids, what is it?

* 36:13 Recognising the similarity in sleep deprivation and ADHD symptoms

* 39:29 Should parents give their kids melatonin?

* 41:11  How to find ways to get kids to voice their bedtime worries

* 46:28 Why do kids get anxious before bedtime?

* 50:14 What are child's parasomnias?

* 53:34 What's the difference between nightmares and night terrors?

* 55:57 Evidence-based techniques for dealing with childhood parasomnias

* 58:05 The difference between childhood and adolescent sleep problems

* 01:00:04 More about the book, Helping Your Child with Sleep Problems: A self-help guide for parents

New parents are inundated with advice on nurturing their newborn, including hundred of blogs, forums, and books dealing with every aspect of managing your baby's sleep.

But once past the infant and toddler years, sleep tends to become more manageable as routines ingrain themselves and habits become established.

However, for many children sleep problems persist beyond the early years into school age and when this happens, help can be harder to find.

Our guest for this episode of our podcast is the esteemed Professor Michael Gradisar who has a wealth of experience in dealing with the sleep problems of babies, children and adolescents in both clinical practice and research.

Discussing his new book, we talk to the professor about some of the evidence-based techniques he and his team have developed to help hundreds of children and their parents cope with sleep issues such as bedtime separation anxiety, insomnia, night-terrors and bedwetting.

This Episode's Guest

Michael Gradisar is a Professor in Clinical Child Psychology and the director of the Child & Adolescent Sleep Clinic at Flinders University, Australia.

Dr. Gradisar has specialized in the treatment of pediatric sleep problems since 2006 and has over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Resources

Book - https://www.amazon.com/Helping-Your-Child-Sleep-Problems/dp/1472138724

Faculty page - https://www.flinders.edu.au/people/michael.gradisar

Professor Gradisar's Clinic -