No, they are different.
A sleep clinic visit happens during the day. It’s similar to visiting your child’s pediatrician. You’ll meet with a sleep medicine provider and often a behavioral sleep psychologist. During this appointment, you’ll talk about your child’s sleep and work together to create a plan to improve it. This plan may include a sleep study, but not always.
A sleep study takes place at night. Your child, along with a parent or guardian, comes to the sleep lab in the evening, stays overnight and goes home the next morning. The study helps the care team understand how your child sleeps.
Our preference at Kennedy Krieger is to avoid sleep medications when at all possible. We first work to identify and treat any underlying cause[s] of sleep disruption. If a child continues to have trouble sleeping, then we try non-medicine approaches to help promote sleep. If we have exhausted all other strategies, then we may have a conversation about trying a sleep medication.
Children need more sleep than adults. The table below lists the recommended amount of sleep according to age:
| Age | Total Sleep Time in 24 Hours |
| 4 to 12 months | 12 to 16 hours (includes naps) |
| 1 to 2 years | 11 to 14 hours (includes naps) |
| 3 to 5 years | 10 to 13 hours (includes naps) |
| 6 to 12 years | 9 to 12 hours |
| 13 to 18 years | 8 to 10 hours |
If your child is getting the correct amount of sleep for their age, but is still tired during the day, then it may be helpful to talk to your pediatrician and/or a sleep specialist.
“Sleep hygiene” is a term used to describe routines, habits, and environmental variables that help promote getting a good night’s rest. A few ways to practice good sleep hygiene may include:
- Going to bed at the same time every night
- Practicing the same pre-bedtime routine
- Sleeping in a quiet, dark, and cool area
- Avoiding caffeine and stimulating activities right before bed
There are many other ways to optimize sleep hygiene. In the sleep clinic, we create individualized plans to optimize sleep hygiene according to each child and family’s unique situation.