I can't sleep, what should I do?

Absolutely. There are obviously different types of insomnia, but acquired insomnia can be avoided by practicing good sleep hygiene. This includes incorporating a relaxing bedtime routine to prepare for sleep and avoiding screens with blue light in the hours before bedtime. In short, it's about following basic sleep hygiene guidelines.

Before establishing sleep requirements based on age, it's important to keep in mind that everyone has their own individual needs. While we establish a certain number of hours based on age, this doesn't mean it has to be followed in every case.

To give you a guide on the appropriate times, we would say that:

• Newborns (0-3 months): between 14 and 17 per day.
• Babies (4-11 months): between 12 and 15 hours each day.
• Children (1-2 years): between 11 and 14 hours.
• Preschool children (3-5): between 10 and 13 hours.
• School-aged children (6-13): between 9 and 11 hours.
• Adolescents (14-17): between 8 and 10 hours.
• Young adults (18-25): between 7 and 9 hours.
• Adults (26 to 65): between 7 and 8 hours.
• Older adults (65 or over): between 6 and 8 hours.

It's very important for children to prepare for sleep, and the best way to do this is by establishing a good bedtime routine . This routine can include brushing teeth, putting on pajamas, reading a story, doing relaxation exercises—anything relaxing before bed will help little ones get a good night's sleep.

Furthermore, let's not forget that children do what they see in their parents, so it's important to instill good sleep hygiene in them, but we also have to have it ourselves to set a good example.

Sleep problems in mothers with babies under one year old can be due to the care itself, especially when babies are acquiring sleep routines.

We must remember that babies under one year old , even if they have already learned to sleep alone and have established a sleep routine (from 6 months onwards), may experience a regression between 8 and 12 months. This disruption of their sleep routine can be due to daytime stressors, such as the introduction of new foods or when they start walking.

What we mothers and fathers can do is:

• Increase daytime activity and let them explore their environment during the day.
• Adapt the space where the little ones sleep , safely, so that they don't constantly need our help.
• Don't eliminate any naps ; your baby still needs them. Providing and arranging the environment for daytime rest is crucial for a good night's sleep.
• If your baby wakes up during the night and starts talking or walking, don't intervene. Wait a reasonable amount of time before going to them to avoid them associating calling for you with a response from you. If they continue to call for you, we will go to them in case they really need something.
• Try not to introduce new or old filler words .
• You must have a lot of patience and empathy , give him support, but try to let him fall asleep on his own if he has already been able to do so before.

First, we need to be clear that older adults sleep fewer hours, since having less energy expenditure during the day means they don't need to sleep as many hours.

Some recommendations for improving sleep quality are:

• Avoid naps during the day
• To have an active life.
• Do some physical activity during the day.
• Get some sun in the early morning.

We can also incorporate relaxation exercises, meditation, and herbal remedies. Natural remedies help us relax, making it easier to fall asleep.

During menopause , the most common sleep disturbances are insomnia, sleep apnea, and restless legs syndrome or nocturnal movement disorders.

Menopause is characterized by a decrease in estrogen, progesterone, and androgens, which leads to associated symptoms. The most common are hot flashes and night sweats, followed by sleep disturbances.

Experiencing menopause as an opportunity

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To improve sleep quality during menopause , it's important to reinforce good sleep hygiene, such as maintaining a regular sleep schedule, including waking up and going to bed at the same time each day. If you're having trouble sleeping at night, avoid taking a nap in the late afternoon.

It is important to establish a bedtime routine, avoid watching television and using devices with blue light in the bedroom.

A good natural supplement that helps improve sleep quality in women during this period would be hops , which can be taken half an hour before going to sleep.

In these cases, it's important to know an exercise called Constructive Worry. This exercise should be done when we're about to go to bed and these thoughts start to creep in.

It consists of taking a piece of paper and writing down what is worrying us. Below, we must write the possible solution to the problem, and whether we can solve it at that moment or not.

Identifying what's keeping us awake, figuring out if there's a solution to that problem, and realizing that it's probably something we should leave for the next day since we can't solve it right away, helps us relax enough to fall asleep.

Early morning insomnia is one of the most difficult types to treat. If we are waking up too early (at least two hours before our planned wake-up time), we are likely suffering from early morning insomnia, but it could also be that we are getting enough sleep and our body doesn't need more.

The way to know which case we are in is to look at how we feel the next day . If we feel good, it is probably because we are sleeping enough hours that our body needs. If, on the other hand, we wake up tired, sleepy, and with the feeling of needing to sleep more, we are probably either having early morning awakening insomnia or some sleep disorder that is not letting us rest well.

If we're getting the sleep our body needs, and waking up too early bothers us, we can try going to bed later. If we're suffering from early morning awakening insomnia, we should consult a specialist.

Sleep hygiene consists of many rules that facilitate sleep. The key recommendations are:

• Maintain regular bedtimes and wake-up times, even on weekends.
• Naps should not last more than 20 or 30 minutes.
• Do not use the bed for anything other than sleeping (and sexual relations), as our brain needs to identify this place as a resting area.
• Practice a relaxing routine before going to sleep.
• Avoid using electronic devices with blue light in the hours before going to sleep.
• Engage in physical activity daily.
• Minimize the consumption of substances with a stimulating effect on the nervous system.
• Avoid large or heavy meals late in the day.

Guidelines for combating insomnia

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If we're getting enough sleep, we shouldn't feel tired or sleepy during the day. If this happens, it indicates two things: either we're not getting enough sleep , or we may have a sleep disorder that's preventing us from resting properly and disrupting our sleep patterns. In this case, it's necessary to seek professional help.

Maintenance insomnia is a type of insomnia in which the person wakes up one or more times during the night, and then has difficulty falling back asleep or is unable to do so.

In these cases, it is highly advisable to learn relaxation techniques, avoid screens, and do any activity during those moments of waking up. If we still cannot fall asleep, we can go to another room in the house and do some relaxing activity until we feel sleepy again.

If this happens, we should consult our primary care physician.

Today, there are anxiolytic medications that have less impact on sleep than those traditionally used. If the problem persists and we continue to have trouble sleeping, we should schedule an appointment with a neurophysiologist specializing in sleep disorders.

We need to consult a sleep specialist from the first moment we detect symptoms such as:

• Excessive daytime sleepiness.
• Fatigue.
• Lack of concentration.
• Decreased sleep hours or excessive nighttime awakenings.

These symptoms, among others, may lead us to believe that we have a sleep disorder, so we should consult either sleep specialists or our primary care professionals for an initial consultation.

Among the different types of insomnia, we find chronic insomnia . That's why it's very important to consult professional teams when we experience the first symptoms of insomnia, to prevent it from becoming chronic and to treat it in time.

No, in fact, the first recommended therapy is always cognitive behavioral therapy , in addition to reinforcing sleep hygiene , and complementing with herbal medicine or melatonin .

It depends on the medication the person is taking. Treatments prescribed for insomnia are usually medications for other conditions that have excessive drowsiness as a side effect, which is why they help us sleep.

It's possible. Obviously, we have to assess each case independently ; we can't generalize from this.

It's possible to regain a natural sleep pattern , provided we don't have physiological insomnia. In the latter case, we would inevitably need medication to extend our sleep hours, but this doesn't mean that what we take has to be chemical. There are natural remedies, such as herbal medicine, and, first and foremost, good sleep hygiene, which can greatly improve our sleep and allow us to reduce our reliance on medication.

We have a major problem with benzodiazepines , which are medications designed for short-term use. When we abuse them in terms of quantity or duration, the body develops a tolerance, thus reducing their effectiveness and creating addiction. Therefore, if we stop taking them, the rebound effect and their impact on sleep are significant.

Yes, many medications have insomnia as a side effect. Some of these include corticosteroids, SSRI antidepressants, ACE inhibitors, and second-generation (non-sedating) H1 antagonists.

Children with ASD have an enzyme deficiency that causes many of them to synthesize less melatonin, which is the hormone that helps them fall asleep.

Sleep in children with autism

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This causes people with ASD to sleep less, have difficulty falling asleep, wake up frequently at night, have fragmented sleep and difficulty falling back asleep, in addition to low sleep efficiency and daytime sleepiness.

The relationship is entirely bidirectional ; many people with insomnia end up developing mental health disorders. Likewise, a high percentage of people with mental health problems also have insomnia or other sleep disorders.

Many of the drugs used for mental health disorders cause insomnia, just as others cause excessive daytime sleepiness, as one of their side effects.