BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — There’s nothing like a good night’s sleep, especially for kids. When they don't get enough sleep, it impacts the whole house.
"The whole family is up. And that affects parent’s marriages, happiness and jobs," said Dr. Amanda Hassinger, Attending Physician of Pediatric Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine with UBMD.
6 in 10 middle schoolers don’t get enough sleep and 7 in 10 high schoolers don’t, according to the CDC, Dr. Hassinger says she’s only seen these issues get worse during the pandemic.
"Not being in school, not having normal schedules, they feel that and it comes out as not being able to sleep without mom and dad, having more nightmares, not getting enough sleep, acting out at bedtime," said Dr. Hassinger.
It’s easy for adults to know when you didn’t sleep well, but it’s harder for kids to understand and communicate, according to Dr. Hassinger. And children show it differently.
"If your child is actually hyperactive, moody, can’t focus, can’t learn, research shows us that at least half of children with ADHD, actually have sleep apnea," said Dr. Hassinger.
Dr. Hassinger first started focusing on sleep medicine when she was working in the intensive care unit. She called for a CPAP machine for a down syndrome patient she could not sleep study on. Many kids with sleep issues just got stuck in the ICU, according to Dr. Hassinger.
"And the person I was talking to on the phone, said we just need to start our own sleep center and I said, I totally agree with you," said Dr. Hassinger.
So with some help from Kaleida health, Oishei Children’s hospital, Dr. Geovanny Perez and Dr. Steven Lipshultz, there’s now a sleep center in Oishei that opened earlier this month.
It is the first pediatric-only American Academy of Sleep Medicine accredited sleep lab in WNY. As a pediatric-only lab, they provide the extra equipment and a very family-centered experience.
Here, Dr. Hassinger and Dr. Alberto Monegro do tests and ask questions to get to the root of these problems.
"We do a really deep dive into that family and that child’s history, sometimes it’s the place in the house, if they’re next to the washer dryer and they always run the washer dryer at night and it’s too loud for them," said Dr. Hassinger.
She says these issues could be fixed in a matter of days, just call and ask your primary care provider to send your information over and you can get your child seen in a matter of weeks.
Just call them at 716-323-0370 or email sleep@upa.chob.edu. Dr. Hassinger says she also does telehealth if your situation is urgent
And as school gets closer, they’re going to have a webinar telling families what they should do to make sure that back to school transition goes smoothly and kids get the sleep they need to focus in the classroom.
