“The Rested Child” with Dr. Chris Winter
39m | Oct 12, 2021In this episode
- Why Season Three begins with children’s sleep
- How sleep problems can overlap with ADHD, depression, anxiety and learning difficulties
- Why screening for sleep problems should complement — not replace — appropriate diagnosis
- Sleep “crutches” versus optional sleep enhancements
- White noise as a household-noise buffer and the modern volume-safety caveat
- What structured behavioral sleep-training studies actually show about attachment
- The Mad About You “cry it out” episode with Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt
- Dr. Winter’s skepticism about the SNOO as a device that “teaches” sleep
- The SNOO’s later FDA De Novo authorization and the 2026 FDA warning letter
- Why Winter emphasizes wake time instead of putting enormous pressure on bedtime
- Age-based pediatric sleep-duration recommendations
- What COVID school closures taught researchers about later mornings and adolescent sleep
- Why the evidence for later school starts is stronger for sleep and mood than for test scores
- Winter’s prediction of a pandemic childhood growth surge — and what later evidence does and does not show
- Simone Biles, the Tokyo Olympics and why “I could barely nap” mattered as a warning sign
- Why learning healthy sleep early may be easier than repairing fear of sleep decades later
About Dr. Chris Winter
W. Chris Winter, MD, is a sleep medicine specialist and neurologist who has studied sleep since the early 1990s. He owns Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine and has worked extensively on sleep and athletic performance with professional and collegiate sports organizations. He is the author of The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep Is Broken and How to Fix It and The Rested Child: Why Your Tired, Wired, or Irritable Child May Have a Sleep Disorder — and How to Help.
MENTIONED
The Rested Child by W. Chris Winter, MD
Publisher page for Winter’s 2021 book on pediatric sleep disorders and daytime symptoms.
Penguin Random House — The Rested Child
Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine
Dr. Winter’s current clinical practice.
Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine
Recommended sleep duration for children and teenagers
American Academy of Sleep Medicine pediatric sleep-duration consensus.
Pediatric obstructive sleep apnea and ADHD — 2026 meta-analysis
Updated evidence on the overlap between OSA and ADHD symptoms in children.
Pediatric OSA and depression — 2025 meta-analysis
Evidence supporting screening across sleep and mood symptoms rather than assuming they are unrelated.
Behavioral interventions for infant sleep problems
A randomized trial of graduated extinction and bedtime fading with 12-month attachment and behavioral follow-up.
Five-year follow-up of behavioral infant sleep intervention
Long-term follow-up examining child, parent-child and parental outcomes.
SNOO Smart Sleeper — FDA De Novo authorization
The 2023 FDA decision establishing the device category and authorized indication for facilitating supine sleep.
FDA warning letter to Happiest Baby — June 2026
FDA concerns involving unreviewed SNOO modifications, hospital use and product-quality issues.
Infant sleep machines and noise exposure
American Academy of Pediatrics guidance on safer use of white-noise sleep machines.
Remote learning, adolescent sleep and mood
Actigraphy study comparing in-person and remote learning during COVID-19.
School start times, sleep and youth outcomes — 2022 meta-analysis
Twenty-eight studies and more than 1.7 million participants.
School start times and academic achievement
Systematic review examining grades and test scores separately from sleep and mood outcomes.
Sleep and growth hormone in children
A 2024 review of the complex and still limited evidence connecting pediatric sleep and growth-hormone physiology.
COVID lockdown and preschool height growth
A later study relevant to Winter’s on-air prediction of a pandemic growth surge.
Simone Biles after withdrawing from the Tokyo team final
The press-conference context for the “could barely nap” comment discussed in the episode.
ESPN — Biles explains the withdrawal
Earlier Snooze Button conversations
Dr. Chris Winter — High Performance Athletes, High Performance Kids
Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt — the Mad About You sleep-training episode
