GULF BREEZE — A new service at the Child Neurology Center of Northwest Florida could help parents and their children sleep easier at night.

The Child Neurology Center in Gulf Breeze opened its new pediatric sleep lab Dec. 6 and has since conducted more than 20 sleep studies on children and youths between the ages of 1 to 18.

“Sleep disorders in children are very common and are very often under-recognized,” said Dr. David Suhrbier, the center’s pediatric sleep expert. “Sleep problems, if you ask any parent, begin almost as soon as the child comes home from the hospital. unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of places in which children are able to be evaluated for these problems. In this area, the closest sleep lab would either be in Jacksonville or Gainesville.”

The Child Neurology Center’s sleep lab has five rooms for children, each painted with Disney or Nickelodeon characters and stocked with toys and stuffed animals.

The center for years has conducted EEGs, studies that measure the electrical impulses in the brain. but the lab allows it to conduct overnight sleep studies.

The lab is the only one of its kind in Northwest Florida, and Suhrbier expects to bring patients in from Mobile, Ala., to Tallahassee. One of his goals is to raise awareness of sleep disorders in children and assure that they are common and treatable.

“Pediatricians and families need to be aware of their child’s sleep pattern because it directly impacts their ability to learn, to develop and to function,” Suhrbier said. “It’s one of those things you want to think of more in the forefront rather than ignoring it.”

The lab is designed to perform overnight sleep studies and other tests, such as multi-sleep latency testing, which is used to diagnose narcolepsy. Sleep disorders also can arise because of other conditions or their medications.

Suhrbier offered Attention Deficit Hyperacitvity Disorder (ADHD) as an example. A child with obstructive sleep apnea can present the symptoms of ADHD, but the sleep aspect of the child’s health is rarely addressed, he said.

Suhrbier said the lab’s services are covered by most insurances.

“Families can get these studies done because there will be reimbursement for them,” he said. “They’re not necessarily going to have to pay a massive amount out of pocket.”

For more information, call the Child Neurology Center’s sleep lab at 916-4351.