KIDS' sleeping problems are costing taxpayers $27 million a year through extra doctors' visits and sleep clinics - and turning parents into nervous wrecks.
Sleep experts are warning that children's tantrums, hyperactivity and learning problems could simply mean they are too tired.
The extra cost of medical visits for sleep-deprived children adds up to $27m a year in extra Medicare costs, the researchers calculated.
"Sleep problems in infants and children account for substantial primary healthcare costs to the public purse,'' the study concludes.
"Up to 40 per cent of parents report that their infants and young children experience sleep problems, which are in turn associated with increased child inattention, poorer social and emotional skills and poorer learning and memory formation.
"They are also of great concern to parents, and are associated with disruptions to employment and increased mental health problems.''
Lead author John Quach said 20 per cent of children had trouble falling asleep at night, and 15 per cent had problems staying asleep.
"Children who have sleep problems are more likely to have behavioural problems and poor concentration,'' he said yesterday.
"They're more likely to be disruptive in class and not be able to follow instructions … (and) to have poorer learning and language skills.''
Dr Quach said parents with children who woke during the night were likely to suffer more "stress and anxiety'' than parents whose children slept soundly.
He said primary school children need 10 or 11 hours' sleep each night.
"Parents should see sleep as a priority and they should have a consistent bedtime and a consistent routine,'' he said.
"The hour before bed should be a media-free time when children are reading or having a story told to them so they can wind down.''
Dr Quach said the true cost of medical treatment for sleep-starved children would be much higher than $27m a year, as the study did not include parents' out-of-pocket costs.
Australia's largest baby and toddler advisory organisation,
Tresillian Family Care Centres, has cared for mothers so sleep deprived they have had accidents.
Marie Clifford, the manager of Tresillian's Wollstonecraft centre on Sydney's north shore, said parents who did not get enough sleep after three months "start going on a downward spiral''.
She said parents need to read babies' "cues of tiredness'' - such as frowning, grimacing or jerky movements - and then give them time to fall asleep undisturbed.
"Often the parents think there is something physically wrong with the child and tend to medicalise it,'' she said.
"But the baby is saying, 'For goodness' sake put me to bed, I'm tired!'
"Often it will take a baby half an hour to get into deep sleep … but we're seeing parents who are trying to be perfect and any time the baby makes a noise, of course they jump.''
Ms Clifford said overtired toddlers could "demonstrate their tiredness in quite a violent way''.
"A lot of overtired children who get labelled as difficult and having behavioural problems are tired children who never learned to go to sleep,'' she said.
New mum Melissa Vince, 28, is using the Tresillian sleep clinic to help her baby Oliver extend his 20-minute "cat naps'' during the day.
"Everyone uses the catchphrase, 'Sleep when the baby sleeps', but what happens if the baby doesn't sleep?'' she said.
"It takes the smallest thing to tip you over the edge, and you feel absolutely shattered.
"The more sleep you get, the better you are able to cope with the ups and downs of the day.
