Many children have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep .
The chances that your baby will have a sleep problem go up if he's a boy, your first child, or prone to colic or ear infections , among other reasons. Parents are often more anxious about taking care of their firstborn children and tend to let bedtime routines and rules slide. But fewer than 10 percent of young children have a true sleep disorder, defined as a more serious sleep problem rooted in a physiological condition. If you suspect your child might qualify, review the following checklist from BabyCenter expert Jodi Mindell , the pediatric clinical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Allegheny University of the Health Sciences and author of Sleeping Through the Night . If any one of the following statements is true for your child, he may have a disorder, and you should discuss the problem with his pediatrician.