Pediatric Sleep Institute

Pediatric Sleep Institute-Ready for Sweet Dreams?

A good night’s sleep is critical to your child’s health and happiness.

At the Pediatric Sleep Institute, we’ve assembled a team of experts who specialize in testing and diagnosing children of all ages with sleep and neurological disorders. 

Physicians on the medical staff associated with the Pediatric Sleep Institute offer testing and evaluation of all types of sleep and neurological disorders including:

• Breathing problems during sleep, such as snoring and obstructive sleep apnea
• Behavioral sleep disorders, including nightmares/night terrors and unwillingness to go to sleep
• Problems falling asleep and staying asleep
• Insomnia
• Sleep walking
• Declining memory and school performance
• Hyperactivity and difficulty with concentration at school
• Teeth grinding
• Bedwetting
• Periodic limb movement disorder and restless legs syndrome (RLS)
• Narcolepsy
• Fainting or Dizzy spells
• Seizures
• Frequent or severe headaches
• Unexplained muscle spasms or jerks

Our facility is designed to ensure a calming and restful setting where our patients and their caregiver can play games, watch television, read and relax.

The Pediatric Sleep Center is a department of Texas Health Center for Diagnostics & Surgery (THCDS). The hospital is a physician-owned facility, as defined by Federal Law. The hospital is affiliated with, but not controlled by, Texas Health Resources and its subsidiaries. Some of the physicians on the medical staff are partners and own a financial interest in the facility. Physicians on the medical staff who provide services operate as independent medical service providers.

Our patient rooms are designed to make your child’s stay as comfortable as possible. Each room is decorated in a soothing color and a sleeping area for the parent/caregiver is provided. Additionally, every room is equipped with a television, WiFi and DVD players.

Neurological disorders can seriously affect a child’s health, success in school, self-esteem and happiness. But with proper diagnosis and treatment most neurological disorders become manageable, improving a child’s self-image and social life.

Neurological disorders can manifest in many ways. You should consult with your physician if the child experiences:

Fainting or dizzy spells
Loss of consciousness
Seizures
Blank staring
Frequent or severe headaches
Unexplained muscle spasms or jerks
A child suffering from a neurological disorder may exhibit one or more of these symptoms. You should seek the advice of a trusted physician.

Common Childhood Neurological Disorders
Epilepsy
A nervous system disorder that causes recurring seizures. These seizures may or may not be associated with loss of consciousness. Epileptic seizures may include involuntary muscle spasms.

These seizures are produced by an abnormal electrical discharge in the brain sometimes caused by high fever (Febrile seizures), genetic diseases, head injuries or infections.

Types of Seizures
Generalized Seizures (involving both sides of the brain)

Generalized tonic-clonic seizures – A dramatic seizure in which the body may undergo rhythmic jerking and muscle stiffening. This kind of seizure may be accompanied by difficulty in breathing, foaming of the mouth and drooling. During these seizures eyes may roll back (Febrile seizures).
Absence seizures (petit mal): These seizures are characterized by a loss of awareness, staring and blinking.
Myoclonic seizures: These seizures are characterized by sporadic muscle jerks that may be associated with loss of balance and head droops.
Partial (produced by small areas of the brain)

Simple partial seizures: These seizures can take many forms, depending on the part of the brain that is affected. The affected child may be aware that a seizure is occurring. These seizures may begin with an “aura” or a warning sign that the seizure is beginning. This may be followed by uncontrolled movements, sudden emotions, memory distortions, nausea and sweating. The child may become pale or experience unusual sensations: strange tastes or smells, odd sounds or voices and distortions in the way things look.
Complex partial seizures: These seizures may also be preceded by an “aura” although the child may be unaware of what is going on around them or what they are doing. During complex partial seizures a child may make repetitive motions such as smacking the lips, picking at their clothing and/or babbling. The child may appear to be in a dream-like or trance state which lasts from 30 seconds to three minutes.
Vertigo
The patient perceives every visible object to be spinning or moving. The patient may also experience dizziness, loss of balance and nausea.

Fainting
An attack resulting in a temporary loss of consciousness that is caused by a brief loss of blood supply to the brain.

Headaches
Headaches are not a neurological disorder, but they can accompany some neurological disorders. They can be caused by factors such as vascular (migraine) headaches or muscular tension headaches resulting from excessive, continuous muscular contractions in the head and neck.