A new study has some alarming warnings for parents. The research, conducted at Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Department of Family and Social Medicine in New York City, indicates that certain sleep issues in the preschool years may be tied to developmental disabilities as the child gets older.
Researchers found that kids who suffered from sleep problems like sleep apnea and snoring in their infant, toddler and preschool years were more likely to need special education services for conditions such as speech and behavioral problems a few years later.
Although the study found an association between the two factors, it did not prove cause and effect. The higher risk of disabilities could be a statistical fluke, or something else besides sleep problems may explain it. Also, the results were limited because the children, all from England, were 98-percent white.