Doctors agree that we should get at least eight hours of sleep every night. Kids need more sleep—10 to 11 hours a night from ages seven to 12. The younger they are, the more sleep children need. Poor sleep can contribute to behavioral and emotional problems as well as scholastic underachievement.

One in four children have a correctable sleep disorder. Many children have insomnia, difficulty falling or staying asleep. If they snore, they also may have an obstructed breathing pattern. This can be difficult to identify. Other symptoms of poor sleep are often dismissed as "acting up," or misdiagnosed as attention deficit disorder or depression. Successful treatment of the disorder involves engaging the entire family and addressing the child's school and social adaptations.

Adventist Hinsdale Hospital has been home to one of Chicagoland's premier sleep centers for more than 25 years. Recently, we added a pediatric sleep facility with modern pediatric-specific equipment and trained pediatric sleep technicians. The service is offered in conjunction with Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago.

A correlating sleep clinic is located at 700 E. Ogden Ave., Suite 202, in Westmont. The clinic offers nine certified sleep physicians, a licensed clinical psychologist, several otolaryngologists, cardiologists, neurologists and an on-site dentist specializing in sleep disorder, who fits patients with oral devices.

Dr. Peter Freebeck, a board-certified sleep specialist, is director of Adventist Midwest Sleep Center, which includes sleep disorder centers at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital and its sister hospitals.

"There are very different criteria in the pediatric population, so you need experts trained to identify and treat what's going on," Freebeck said. "Not only does the entire environment have to be kid-friendly, but the expertise in unique measurements for the pediatric patients—such as depth of breathing, amount of air flow and levels of oxygen saturation—are different too."

The pediatric sleep medicine team at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital is made up of internationally known, board-certified pediatric sleep medicine physicians. Dr. David Gozal, chairman of the department of pediatrics, is a pioneer in the study of childhood sleep problems, as well as Dr. Hari Bandla, chief of the pediatric sleep medicine section. Both Gozal and Bandla treat pediatric patients at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital.

"The combination of the pediatric sleep research and treatment team at Comer Children's Hospital with the deep experience and first-rate facilities at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital pulls together two strong complementary programs," Gozal said.

A pioneer in the development of bench-to-bedside approaches to pediatric sleep disorders, such as childhood obstructive sleep apnea and sudden infant death syndrome, Gozal's team studies the mechanisms involved in disrupted sleep, and the long-term health and developmental consequences of chronic childhood sleep and breathing problems.

For more information, call 630-590-2331.