2 out of every 3 children experience sleep problems, poll says

A National Sleep Foundation poll showed more than two out of every three kids ages 10 and under has experienced some type of sleep problem.

Manasvi Rajiv, 7,can sleep now, but that wasn't always the case.

"I was wailing and crying and I was just shaking my legs," Rajiv said.

"It is fairly common up to 10 percent of kids will have a sleep disorder of some kind," said Lewis Milrod, MD, director at Pediatric Sleep Center.

Dr. Milrod runs the Pediatric Sleep Center at St. Peter's University Hospital in New Jersey. He says sleep disorders in children are often missed or misdiagnosed.

"A lot of kids can be diagnosed as having attention deficit disorder but it could be that the kids are not receiving enough sleep," he said.

Some physical problems might be to blame. Enlarged tonsils, obesity, allergies, acid reflux, or even a small or recessed jaw may make it hard for kids to sleep. Another common sleep stealer? Sleep apnea.

"Kids tend to have more shallow breathing what we call hypopneas, so the parents may not realize," Dr. Milrod said.

Some children may also suffer from restless legs syndrome, when discomfort in the legs leads to repetitive motions. It's what doctors thought Rajiv had.

"We try to put her back to sleep, she again woke up and she said, 'Mom, my legs are hurting me, my feet is really hurting me,'" said Shilpa Rajiv, her mother.

But tests showed she actually had an iron deficiency that was causing the leg pain. Now that it's corrected, she sleeps like a baby.

"I'm fine now. There is nothing to complain about my leg," she said.

Children and adolescents need at least nine hours of sleep per night. Not enough sleep can lead to poor performance at school, injuries and behavior problems.