Toddlers' sleep, eating problems often go together
Image by MoonSoleil via Flickr NEW YORK | Thu Mar 3, 2011 ( Reuters Health ) - Parents who have a hard time getting their babies and toddlers to sleep at night may also often have trouble at mealtime, new study findings suggest. So-called behavioral insomnia , where a young child regularly resists bedtime or has trouble staying asleep, is common -- seen in up to 30 percent of children between the ages of 6 months and 3 years. A similar percentage have problems at mealtime, ranging from being an overly "fussy" eater to having a full-fledged " feeding disorder" - in which, for instance, parents can't get their child to follow any regular eating schedule, or the food refusal affects a child's weight. It might not be surprising to many parents that sleeping and eating issues often go hand-in-hand. But the new study, published in the journal Pediatrics , is the first to show this may be true. Among parents of 681 healthy kids 6 months to 3 years old, I...