One in ten children suffer from a sleep disorder but most of us - including GPs and paediatricians - know very little about the signs and symptoms, says Dr Chris Winter. In his new book The Rested Child, the American neurologist talks about why the "tired, wired, or irritable child" may actually have a sleep disorder.

One in ten children suffer from a sleep disorder but most of us - including GPs and paediatricians - know very little about the signs and symptoms, says Dr Chris Winter.

In his new book The Rested Child, the American neurologist talks about why the "tired, wired, or irritable child" may actually have a sleep disorder.

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We now know that a person's relationship with sleep is formed at a very young age so the way parents talk to kids about it can have lifelong effects, Dr Winter tells Kathryn Ryan.

Parents can create a sense of anxiety around sleep by responding harshly to the child who gets out of bed after bedtime, he says.

" 'If you don't get to sleep you're going to fail your maths test and you won't make the rugby team'.

" 'That's okay because it's natural not to sleep. Why don't you just keep reading your comic book and I promise you sleep will come'.

"Those are the kinds of encouraging things we need to be saying to kids because it really sets the foundation for how we view sleep as adults."

As a culture, we focus way too much on the hardline bedtime but it can be good to make 'lights out' a later time that your child decides, Dr Winter says.

"Give them that dominion that you're not under any pressure to fall asleep at this designated moment."

If you enforce the child's 'wake up' time kindly and firmly - and make it clear to them that in the morning they'll pay a price for staying up - bedtime will take care of itself, he says.

This doesn't include device use in bed which is always bad news for children's sleep, he says, even when it's somewhat educational, such as learning about sea lions on YouTube till 2am.

So how do you know a child may have a real problem with sleep?

Sleeptalking is usually normal and sleepwalking is to some degree normal, Dr Winter says, but if parents are concerned about their child's sleep activities they should start tracking their frequency.

"Every time your kid has a little episode of screaming out indicate it on a calendar. After a few months, do you feel like the frequency is getting better, is it getting worse, is it staying the same?…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details