Help, My kid won't sleep! - Mayo Clinic Press

SHARE:

Parents are acutely aware of the importance of a good night’s rest. Kids, on the other hand, sometimes need a little (or a lot of) convincing. So how do you know if your kid is sleeping well? And should you be worried about using screens before bedtime?

On this episode of Mayo Clinic Kids, we talk with Dr. Julie Baughn to learn how to help our kids catch some quality zzz’s.

Powered by RedCircle

Listen to Help, My kid won’t sleep!

Dr. Angela Mattke: This is “Mayo Clinic Kids,” a podcast from Mayo Clinic where we discuss the latest pediatric research and recommendations to help keep your kids laughing and thriving. I’m Dr. Angela Mattke, a pediatrician with Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In this episode, “Help, My Kid Won’t Sleep!”

A lot of parents come to my office with concerns about their kids’ hyperactive behavior or difficulty concentrating in school. Sometimes those kids go on to get evaluated for ADHD. But we might also ask about their sleep.

Dr. Baughn: Sleep apnea is very common. It affects about one to 5 percent of children, and sleep apnea can make you tired or sleepy. But in children it can mimic ADHD. It can make them hyperactive and have attention issues. If you think about kids who are up past their bedtime, they get more and more hyper as the night goes on. They’re tired, but they’re not necessarily going to go to bed easily. Kids with sleep apnea behave in that way all day long.

It’s hard because the time where sleep apnea is really prevalent is the time where kids are starting school. Sleep apnea is really prevalent in two to eight-year-olds. That’s the time when kids have big tonsils and adenoids. Sleep apnea in children is often because the tonsils and adenoids are enlarged. Early school age kids might have school issues and attention issues and focusing issues might be flagged. Parents and caregivers are acutely aware of the importance of a good night’s rest.

Kids on the other hand, sometimes need a little, or a lot, of convincing. According to recent estimates, 37 percent of kids between 4 months and five years old don’t get enough sleep, and when it comes to teenagers, 77 percent of high school students aren’t getting enough. Staying in bed and closing your eyes sounds easy, but with busy schedules and glowing screens, getting quality rest is hard.

How do you tell if your kid’s sleeping enough? If your kid’s having issues with sleep, when should you talk to your pediatrician? To tackle our biggest bedtime issues, we’re talking with Dr. Julie Baughn. Julie is a pediatric sleep medicine specialist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who helps caregivers and kids figure out how to catch some quality z’s.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Julie, thank you so much for joining us today. I’m really excited to have you here talking about, I think, what every parent and family has struggled with, getting their child, their baby, their teenager to sleep.

Dr. Baughn: Thank you so much for having me here. I’m thrilled to be here to talk about this subject.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Well, I think it’s really fundamentally important for us to understand why do kids sleep? What is actually happening with our kids’ bodies while they sleep?

Dr. Baughn: Sleep is so important for growth and development. Babies spend over half their time sleeping. Basically their fundamental job is to sleep and to grow. That really impacts how they grow and develop. We don’t know everything that sleep does for us.

A lot of that research is still out there, but we know it is important. It’s evolutionarily conserved in species and it’s thought to play a role in memory consolidation and learning, and kind of resetting the brain. But it is clearly really important for kids to sleep well and get enough sleep, which is hard. Our culture doesn’t necessarily prioritize sleep or prioritize sleep for kids.

Dr. Angela Mattke: When you said, babies spend more than half of their time sleeping, I think some parents probably went, “I wish my child spent half the time sleeping.”

Dr. Baughn: Yeah.

Dr. Angela Mattke: How much sleep do kids actually need?

Dr. Baughn: Infants up to one year of age need anywhere from 12 to 16 hours of sleep at night. That’s between overnight and naps. As an infant, they’re going to get that sleep in piecemeal. But as they get older and closer to a year of age, that sleep is going to become more consolidated. 1 to 2-year-olds need between 11 and 14 hours.

Three to five-year-olds need 10 to 13. Six to 12-year-olds still need nine to 12 hours of sleep. When we get into school, that’s where things can get really short-changed. Those early school-age kids still have that clock where they’re going to wake up early in the morning. Most kids that age, no matter how late they go to bed, they may be up between six and seven.

Their bedtime is really important. If their bedtime isn’t early enough, they’re not gonna get enough sleep. Then teenagers still need eight to 10 hours. Another group that can be chronically sleep deprived because they have a tendency to stay up late and sleep in. The demands of activities and homework and things like that can shortchange their sleep.

Dr. Angela Mattke: I’m glad you brought that up because it feels like we spend the first decade of our lives just trying to convince our kids to sleep and trying to create good sleep schedules. But then all of a sudden you get to middle school and high school and it’s like a switch flips and you’re trying to convince that teenager that they need to wake up before 1 p.m. Do we know if there’s a medical or a physiological reason for that?

Dr. Baughn: There absolutely is. All of us have two drives to go to sleep at night. One is what we call Process S.

As soon as we wake up in the morning, chemicals build in our brain and they have to get to a certain level for us to be able to initiate sleep. Napping past the time a child needs to nap or sleeping in late all kind of pushes that bedtime later. Then we also have the circadian rhythm, which is that ebb and flow of energy throughout the day.

It’s where we all get a little bit drowsy after lunch, and most adults can’t fall asleep around nine. They may not choose to fall asleep around nine, but most adults can initiate sleep around nine and teenagers are pushed later to 11. Physiologically they do have this tendency to want to stay up a little bit later and sleep in.

Then our environment really impacts that. One of the most potent things that impacts that is light. Light from electronics or a lack of sunlight really impacts a teenager’s ability to regulate that circadian rhythm.

Dr. Angela Mattke: A lack of sunlight. That’s really interesting to point out when I think of so many of my teenagers who are never outside.

Dr. Baughn: Particularly since the pandemic, there’s a lot of teenagers that are spending a lot of time in their room with the shades drawn. They’re exposed to artificial light at night with electronics and they’re not exposed to sunlight during the day.

Dr. Angela Mattke: I‘m thinking about my own children this week. They are exhausted. They’re going to track camp very early and they’ve got soccer very late. We had plans for tonight to go out with another family and I said, I just can’t do it. My kids are so exhausted. How much of a kid’s sleep pattern is determined by their physical need versus lifestyle, habits, activities that get in the way of it?

Dr. Baughn: I don’t know if anyone studied that, but the sleep need is a range. There are going to be kids who are at the lower end of that range, and there are kids at the higher end of the range. If your child seems tired, then inching their sleep pattern to be closer to the higher ends, just to see if that helps, is really worthwhile.

Younger kids, seeing if an earlier bedtime helps because sometimes kids miss their window of being tired and they are up later than what their body needs, they get more active and then it just makes bedtime harder. Then our lifestyle really, really impacts sleep. I’ve seen multiple teenagers and even younger kids who, when we remove those electronics at bedtime, they get a lot more sleep and their sleep issues get better.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Yeah. It’s such an easy fix, but such a hard one.

Dr. Baughn: Exactly.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Is there an ideal sleep schedule? I think I’m specifically talking more about time of day.

Dr. Baughn: We know that sleeping at nighttime is probably better for our body than sleeping during the day. With the exception of younger kids who again physiologically need that nap. Short-changing yourself at night, but trying to make up for that sleep with naps, is probably not doing anyone service. We all wake up as we cycle through all the sleep stages.

We’re always waking up multiple times a night. There’s been some things that have come up about older societies, maybe having some nighttime activity and things like that, but in general sleep at night is better than sleep during the day. Looking at when your child has to get up, obviously, ideally, we would probably go to bed at a reasonable time and allow ourselves to wake up on our own, rested. But again, our society doesn’t allow that. Again, making sure that you’re doing the math and walking things back and having that bedtime to be at an appropriate time.

Dr. Angela Mattke: You just mentioned allowing our bodies to wake up when we feel rested. Is there a definition of what quality ideal sleep is?

Dr. Baughn: Most people who don’t have other medical issues if they’re giving themselves enough time in bed will get that quality sleep. Their brain will go through all those sleep stages. It’s very rare for me to do a sleep study and not see that normal sleep, sleep.

Then another guide is if you allow your child to sleep in on the weekend, how late are they sleeping? If they are sleeping in late, we’re probably short-changing them during the week. We unfortunately can’t make up for a whole week of insufficient sleep on the weekend which is a few days of sleeping in.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Yeah, exactly. We may never know all the benefits of sleep. But we do know that for kids, sleep is super important for healthy growth and development. How much sleep your kid needs depends on how old they are. Babies need 12 to 16 hours, and that slowly decreases over time. But 6 to 12-year-olds still need 9 to 12 hours, and teenagers 8 to 10 hours.

Some kids will fall on the shorter end of those ranges, and some on the longer end. If you’re not sure where your kid falls, try moving their bedtime, and see if you notice a difference. But timing is important too! Early school-age kids naturally wake up early, so set their bedtimes accordingly. Teenagers naturally want to go to bed a little later.

But regardless of your age, it’s best to get most — if not all — of your sleep during the night… and not rely on naps during the day. The good news is, most kids will get quality shut-eye every night, as long as they’re spending enough time in bed. But that’s easier said than done.

Let’s talk about what gets in the way of sleep. Is there a specific clinical definition or threshold for sleep deficiency, aka not getting enough sleep?

Dr. Baughn: If you’re less than these recommended ones and then certainly having daytime dysfunction with it, there can be many reasons for lack of sleep; insomnia and just difficulty sleeping can impact things.

Dr. Angela Mattke: What are the potential risks or negative effects of short-term or even long-term sleep deficiency and not getting enough sleep?

Dr. Baughn: That’s all going to depend a little bit on your age. Younger kids, we’re going to see issues with growth and development. Older kids, we’re going to see school issues and older adolescents, we might see sleepiness during the day. There’s certainly concern with driving and falling asleep at the wheel.

The studies in adults have shown that sleep deprivation leads to very similar effects of alcohol consumption. When I translate to kids, I see it as kind of that disinhibition of attention and focusing. They can’t focus. They can’t pay attention. There’s more behavior issues. It puts a huge stress on the whole family because when the kids aren’t sleeping, the parents aren’t either. It can be a vicious cycle.

Dr. Angela Mattke: It really, really is. Sometimes sleep sufficiency, like we talked about, is habits and lifestyle and overscheduled routines with families, but sometimes there’s actually a medical condition or an organic cause that’s going on. What are some of the common sleep conditions that you are diagnosing and treating in your sleep center?

Dr. Baughn: Very commonly, we see what we call behavioral insomnia of childhood. So That’s normal sleep issues that can crop up because of different developmental things that occur in childhood. For instance, if your infant has always nursed or been rocked to sleep, they may wake up frequently and expect that nursing and rocking, leading to sleep deprivation for everyone. Then, older kids will test limits, so they’ll have what we call curtain calls, where they’re asking for one more drink of one more kiss.

Older kids can have limit-setting issues around electronics, and that can cause sleep deprivation, so that’s very common. Other special populations, like kids with ADHD, while we talked about how sleep apnea can look like ADHD. Kids with ADHD often have trouble focusing at bedtime.

Bedtime is a difficult time and they may have difficulty going to sleep or staying asleep. Sometimes they require less sleep than what is typical. Also kids with autism, really any kind of neurodevelopmental issue can cause that. Then teenagers with that delay in that circadian rhythm can make it hard for them to go to sleep and get enough sleep. Those are kind of the common things I see.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Do you ever see things like hypersomnia?

Dr. Baughn: It’s a rare thing, but it is really under-recognized. Like most people who have narcolepsy or hypersomnia get diagnosed in young adulthood, but had symptoms for 10 years or more and often had symptoms when they’re a child. If your child is falling asleep during the daytime, after the time of napping, you really need to bring that to your pediatrician’s notice and get evaluated for a sleep issue.

Now, most commonly, it’s going to be not enough sleep at night. But it is very easy to miss and often kids with narcolepsy, they can also look like they’re having focusing issues. Kids are supposed to be more awake than adults. Kids have a very high wakefulness drive in early elementary school, and even teenagers are more awake than adults. It may not seem like that.

Dr. Angela Mattke: No, it doesn’t.

Dr. Baughn: That’s because they’re probably not getting enough sleep, but they shouldn’t be sleepy. Just having an awareness of that diagnosis. We have really good treatment for it. If we can find it and treat it, we can help these kids.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Yeah, it’s life-changing. Restless Leg Syndrome is also something that I imagine you see quite often in your clinic. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Dr. Baughn: Restless leg syndrome is an urge to move the legs that usually occurs only in the evening or it’s worse in the evening. When you move your legs, it feels better. It can be really hard for kids to describe that sensation. Adults, even with restless leg syndrome, it’s just an odd sensation symptom to describe. It does run in families. We’ll often have another family member who has restless leg syndrome or because it is associated with low iron.

The mom maybe doesn’t have it normally, but may have had some symptoms during pregnancy and it can make it hard to fall asleep at bedtime. Now, we have lots of times we’re not exactly, because of the kid’s age, sure if it’s restless leg syndrome and we might be treating iron to kind of help their sleep. But it is important to screen for that, particularly in older kids who are having trouble going to sleep at bedtime.

Dr. Angela Mattke: What about short sleeper syndrome, where some people supposedly need only six or so hours of sleep a night? Is that a real thing?

Dr. Baughn: There probably are people who need less than what is typical. But many people who may claim to be short sleepers, maybe drinking a lot of caffeine, or maybe, doing other things to try to keep themselves awake during the day and maybe need more than what they’re giving themselves.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Anecdotally when I have seen people that say that they don’t need much sleep, it’s their perception. See them drinking 18 cups of coffee a day. There’s a lot of products and drinks on the market that have caffeine in them. Is that something that we have noticed to impact the sleep of our teens?

Dr. Baughn: Absolutely. Caffeine stays in the system for around six hours. Any caffeine use later in the day can really impact sleep, and studies show that it can cause more disrupted sleep and poorer sleep. That’s another thing to check with your teenager, if they’re drinking any of those energy drinks, which have a lot of caffeine.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Teenagers seem to have only two modes that they operate in, asleep or about to sleep. Then toddlers have about three. It’s full speed to bed, it’s delirious, I should have been asleep like 30 minutes ago or it’s completely passed out. How do we know what is healthy, just busy, tired, maybe a little overscheduled versus concerning and sleep deprived? Are there specific signs that parents watch out for, whether it’s toddlers, teenagers, etcetera?

Dr. Baughn: Toddler sleep issues are hard because, like you said, toddlers they’re in general kind of disinhibited. Even toddlers with sleep apnea, it’s really hard to know. We can have toddlers with a lot of sleep apnea, and it’s hard to know daytime-wise how it’s impacting their function. I have had parents, if there’s a definite change, they will flag that.

Older kids, definitely if kids have given up naps and have started napping again, that’s a sign that maybe things need to be looked into. Once they’ve started school, they shouldn’t usually be napping after age six most of the time. If kids are falling asleep in the car past the time of napping, that’s another thing to look for, keeping in mind that screens really keep people awake.

I have really sleepy kids who there’s not a lot of falling asleep because they’re on screens a lot and that even keeps some people with narcolepsy awake. Any significant difficulty going to sleep and staying asleep that you’ve tried to address some of the environmental things, snoring three or more nights a week, especially with daytime dysfunction, especially if it’s gone on for three months or so and not getting better.

That ADHD diagnosis that maybe isn’t quite fitting or the medications aren’t quite working. Looking at the sleep is really a good idea. If you’re wondering if your kid’s getting enough sleep, look for signs of daytime dysfunction. Is their growth and development on track? Are they having issues in school?

Are they tired all the time — or on the flip side, totally disinhibited? These are signs to take a closer look at their sleeping habits. Some childhood sleep conditions are fairly typical, like behavioral insomnia, testing limits at bedtime, sleep apnea, or sleep issues related to neurodivergence.

But there are less common issues, like narcolepsy or restless leg syndrome. It can be really hard to figure out when to talk to a doctor. But if your older child is napping frequently, your kid is snoring, or you’re noticing other issues that you can’t trace back to environmental things like screens or caffeine, it’s a good idea to bring it up with your pediatrician.

It might feel like you have no control over how your kid sleeps on any given night, but there are some things we can do to set kids up for slumber. Let’s talk about the state of sleep, and what you can do at home to get your kid closer to those sweet dreams.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Do we know how American kids are doing with sleep these days? Is it getting better? Is it getting worse?

Dr. Baughn: I haven’t seen recent data. I know in general teenagers are sleep deprived and sleep deprivation in teenagers is linked pretty closely to mental health issues. We know that mental health is a huge issue right now for adolescents.

Dr. Angela Mattke: We have seen a huge increase in the amount of hours spent on screens over the past decade in teens, and I do wonder if that is affecting it. You know, the average teenager in the United States spends anywhere from seven to eight hours on screens per day.

Seven to eight hours. And you know what? You and I are probably even higher. But you know, they’re doing different screen stuff; they’re on YouTube constantly and TikTok… all those different things. I just wonder why parents are reluctant to take the screens away at bedtime.

I have families that are really, really good at it, and I have families that tell me they just can’t do that. And I know there’s a lot of factors that go into it, but what tips would you give for parents about setting those good screen time habits and when do they need to take them away?

Dr. Baughn: At least an hour before bedtime is what is recommended. Screens are so pervasive right now and probably not everything that we’re doing on electronics and screens affect sleep the same way. If you’re all sitting as a family watching some TV a little bit before bedtime and then you go into your rooms and go to sleep, the TV is pretty far away versus watching videos where that next video keeps loading and your brain just stays awake.

There are some positive things related to sleep that I think we can do on electronics. I mean, there’s lots of great meditation apps, even for kids and if your child is having sleep issues, that’s kind of low hanging fruit for you as a parent to address. But I think we’re all as parents trying to do our best to survive and be a parent, which is really hard. Just working together and seeing what you can do to minimize those things.

Dr. Angela Mattke: It’s a lot easier to have good rules around screen time going from a young childhood as opposed to all of a sudden as a teenager, like setting rules when they haven’t had them before. If you have young kids, then this is the time. And if you have teenagers and you feel like there’s an ability to try and reign things in a little bit to optimize sleep, feel empowered to do it, but just expect some pushback and That’s normal.

What about school start times? Has that been a contributor for sleep deprivation or just not getting enough sleep in teens?

Dr. Baughn: The literature shows a start time after 8:30 is really beneficial for getting kids to get enough sleep. It has not shown that teenagers will stay up necessarily later if their start time is later. If their start time is earlier though, we do know that they don’t go to bed earlier.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Do you have any general lifestyle recommendations for families who are trying to adjust their sleep routines, sleep schedules, maybe the duration of sleep for their younger ones, especially those babies that they’re trying to get on the sleep schedule and those toddlers where we see a lot of the behavioral stuff come in.

Dr. Baughn: First, picking an age appropriate bedtime, noticing kind of how your evening is going and when your child is looking a little bit drowsy and knowing that that window can be kind of short, and missing that window can make things worse. Having a bedtime routine, we want that routine to be very similar every night. 20 to 30 minutes in length.

Each step takes you and the child closer to bed. You want to maybe have your snack and then brush your teeth and then get pajamas on and do books. Not do books and then go out and brush your teeth or go have that snack. Now, knowing that, if a child is testing limits at bedtime, they’re going to ask to go to the bathroom again. Setting some of those limits up front, if that’s been an issue too, if you’re dealing with a three-year-old or older.

Then having a really similar schedule on the weekends versus the weekdays, knowing that again, those early elementary school kids aren’t going to necessarily sleep in more if they have a later bedtime on the weekend. Just keep it the same, keep it early. Then the older kids, not letting them sleep in more than 1 to 2 hours on the weekends.

Dr. Angela Mattke: When you say older kids, are you talking about teens?

Dr. Baughn: Yeah.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Any specific other tips for teenagers?

Dr. Baughn: Electronics again are huge. Setting limits, even around staying up late for homework and activities, and obviously I’m biased. I’m a sleep doctor, but we all have to prioritize our sleep. It’s really important to make choices that prioritize our sleep and get us in bed early.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Common things that you will hear people sometimes even bragging about in high school and colleges pulling all nighters to study, right? What does the research say about that? Does that actually help you perform better or not?

Dr. Baughn: I would say no, but I don’t know if it’s considered a badge of honor, particularly as you move into higher education. But I would say that if you’re staying up late and short-changing yourself on sleep, you’re likely studying is not as efficient or as productive and it becomes this cycle. Prioritize your sleep. Get in bed. Sleep helps your brain learn and consolidate all of those things that you’re learning. I’m not a fan of all-nighters.

Dr. Angela Mattke: I never ever did one. I always went to bed and then I’d rather get up early and refresh my memory with the knowledge before I took my test. Should parents be tracking their kids’ sleep?

Dr. Baughn: I would say no. Most people do not need to ever target their sleep and particularly if you have insomnia and you start tracking your sleep, that can actually make it worse.

Dr. Baughn: More anxiety around sleep. Most people don’t need to be tracking their sleep. There’s a lot of trackers now in light and deep sleep. Many of the technologies are proprietary.

We don’t know exactly what they’re measured, but when we’ve measured that against some of our sleep studies and some of our sleep measurements the light and deep sleep probably isn’t accurate, so I wouldn’t be too worried if you’re tracking your sleep or tracking your child’s sleep, and it’s telling you that there’s not enough deep sleep or not enough light sleep or too much late sleep that may not be accurate. But the time in bed is probably pretty accurate.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Another really hot button issue is melatonin. Is it safe to use? And if so, when are the times that it is safe to use?

Dr. Baughn: It’s hard. Melatonin isn’t regulated. It’s a supplement. We’ve had a bunch of studies recently that have looked at different brands of melatonin and found a lot of inconsistencies between what was on the package and what was in the form.

Trying to look at third party testers, like consumer labs or brands that are a little bit more reputable. I think the literature shows that short term use in most kids is probably safe. That long term use has been looked at like ADHD and autism and is probably safe. But most children don’t need melatonin and probably shouldn’t use it. If it’s used, it should be used for a short time.

Dr. Angela Mattke: What are some other nonpharmacological things that kids can use to help fall asleep? A stuffed toy, blanket, meditation. What kind of things do you think that are just helpful tips for parents?

Dr. Baughn: Once a child is after 12 months of age and can have things in the crib, introducing transition objects that they go to bed with can be really helpful with sleep. Some kids won’t pick that themselves and you kind of have to pick it for them and reinforce it and they have to go to bed with something.

Something that can be easily washed, I would say, and is easily replaceable. Then again, it’s that bedtime routine. Meditation is great for everyone probably. Fortunately there’s lots of apps that have free meditation for kids or meditation stories and kind of a way to wind down as part of your routine. Then exercise and activity. We all sleep better if we are getting outside, getting exposed to sunlight. Exercising in the morning can help you fall asleep earlier. Exercising in the evening can help you stay up later, but really exercising whenever it works is probably the most beneficial for your sleep.

Dr. Angela Mattke: One last question for you. I talked about some of the other things that are targeted towards parents, but one of them that made a lot of news was those weighted blankets for infants. Is that something you would recommend or not?

Dr. Baughn: I would not. That doesn’t follow safe sleep practices. It’s been studied, but infants should be placed on their back to sleep. Having something weighted on them, could potentially be a dangerous thing. There’s a lot of things marketed for infants that haven’t been tested. There’s been things that have been recalled. Just be careful and talk to your pediatrician about some of those new things, because most of them aren’t tested for safety don’t believe.

Dr. Angela Mattke: Often, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ends up recalling them. Just keep it simple, right? I always did sleep sacks where I didn’t have to worry about blankets suffocating and things like that. Nothing else really in the crib. I always tell my patients, they should be the cutest thing in the crib.

Dr. Baughn: Yes, I agree.

Dr. Angela Mattke: There’s a few things you can do to support your kid’s sleep. Limiting screens is a big one – try to put screens away an hour before bed. For younger kids, picking an age-appropriate bedtime, sticking to a bedtime routine, and keeping the schedule consistent are helpful. A transition object can also help build those habits.

When it comes to teens, try to limit screen time before bed, and teach them to prioritize sleep. Kids of all ages can benefit from sunlight, exercise, and activity during the day. There are lots of things out there marketed to help kids sleep, but not all of them are tested.

If you’re thinking about trying something new, talk to your pediatrician about whether it’s a safe choice for your kid. That’s all for this episode. But if you have a question or topic suggestion, you can leave us a voicemail at (507) 538-6272. We might even feature your voice on the show!

For more “Mayo Clinic Kids” episodes and resources, check out our website at mayoclinic.org/kids.  Okay, thanks for listening!

Relevant reading

Liam's Lonely Day

With his sister away and his mom in a meeting, Liam starts to feel pretty lonely. Kids are familiar with feeling happy or sad, but loneliness is a unique feeling that's often not discussed, including for adults! This friendly introduction to the feeling encourages readers to think of loneliness and…

Discover more Parenting, Kids & Teens content from articles, podcasts, to videos.

Want more children’s health and parenting information? Sign up for free to our email list.