If your child has a sleep problem, educating yourself and your child about proper sleep habits is an important first step. The pages in this section are intended to help with that process, and include a detailed FAQ, a preview of what to expect at your child's visit, and sleep tips compiled by our experts.
Recommended reading on sleep and sleep problems
From our nationally acclaimed team.
- Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber, MD, founder and former director of the Sleep Center, helps parents understand children’s sleep and shows how they can address many problems. First published in 1986, the book has since been revised and expanded in a new edition (2006).
- Successful Sleep Strategies for Kids by Dennis Rosen, MD, associate director of the Sleep Center, presents the latest scientific discoveries about sleep. It provides helpful information on proven ways to help your child get a better night's sleep and feel more refreshed and alert during the day.
- Take Charge of Your Child's Sleep: The All-in-One Resource for Solving Sleep Problems in Kids and Teens, by the Sleep Center's medical director, Judith Owens, MD, MPH, offers practical advice for helping your children and adolescents.
- Ellie the Elephant has a Sleep Study, written by our former sleep technologist, Christy Beckwith, helps give you and your child an idea of what to expect on the night of your first sleep study. It is available in both paperback and Kindle versions.
- Thomas Scammell, MD, a neurologist in the division of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School, provides information on narcolepsy with videos on how best to live with narcolepsy and the science and medications used to treat it.
- Is your child sleepy? Consider taking this survey for children/adolescents 8 to 18 years to screen for narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia.
General information on visiting Boston Children’s
Boston Children’s Patient Resources website offers information on a wide array of support services available to families.