The investigation aims to identify the causes of sleep difficulties in children and explore solutions to support them

Children who struggle to sleep could benefit from an investigation into support pathways by Portsmouth City Council.

The council’s education, children and young people scrutiny panel met to kick-start its review into sleep pathways for children.

The review highlights that there is “no clearly defined referral pathway” for children who find it difficult to sleep, resulting in “uncertainty for professionals and families”.

Hayden Ginns, the council’s assistant director for children (performance and commissioning), said that in social and healthcare circles across Hampshire, “sleep keeps coming up”.

He said that at a recent Children’s Trust Board, which “brings together partners at a very senior level”, sleep was mentioned and “there was a lot of nods”.

Childhood obesity and other issues have a “very clear set pathway” through specialist services, but none exists for sleep, which can be “frustrating for families”.

He added that “it will be hard to talk about this without talking about trauma”, as “some children live in households where there’s significant and severe domestic abuse”.

Children’s mental health is likely to be a significant factor, which has “suffered over the last few years, not least post-Covid”.

In closing, Mr Ginns said the issue is a “broad church”, with a wide array of needs and differing levels of severity across health, education and social care sectors, adding that “we don’t understand the scale of the issue”.

Councillor Hannah Brent raised concerns about families and guardians not knowing “where to go or know how to have these discussions or find the help”.

Cllr Lamara Fudge recalled her own experiences with her children struggling to sleep and said the sleep pathway that was in place around two years ago had stopped.

She said support was initially offered through a school nurse, who helped navigate sleep diaries, routine changes and “sleep hygiene” – the habits, behaviours and environmental factors that help someone get a consistent and restful night’s sleep.

More recently, she was referred from the school nurse to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, then to a neurodiverse team and finally to a GP, only to be told “there was no sleep pathway”.

Cllr Suzy Horton questioned what the review would aim to achieve after its completion, noting that a piece of work on the issue could be “really useful” for those with an array of issues across educational, medical, social and youth work pathways, given the impact sleep deprivation can have.

The panel will meet again to bring together experts and stakeholders to build a clearer picture of the issue before deciding what work is needed to address it.

According to the NHS, it is estimated that one in four children will experience sleep difficulties which are more common among children with additional needs. Poor sleep has also been linked to behavioural difficulties.