Check out our new consolidated website!

Follow us on the next leg of our journey!

After some observation, experimentation, and AB testing, SHC has decided to merge This Week's Sleep News and SleepyHeadCENTRAL into one new website.

Please visit at http://sleepyheadcentral.com/ and adjust your subscriptions accordingly.

You'll have the same great content in a cleaner, more optimized format that frees up SHC to do more work in the field.

You can also expect new original content and fine-tuned curation targets in 2017 as well as other forward-thinking surprises, benefits, and offers.

Thanks for your support and do share this news with your sleep-challenged friends!

Spotlight: Parasomnias

While all sleep disorders have elements of risk if left untreated, some of the more terrifying problems with sleep fall into the category of parasomnias. 

Parasomnias are sleep disorders in which abnormal things happen to people while they sleep that cannot be explained by more common disruptions caused by sleep apnea or restless legs. 

Usually the behaviors of someone with a parasomnia are bizarre or compelling and can impact both the person undergoing an episode or their bed partners or nearby loved ones. 

Unusual movements or strange emotional behavior associated with parasomnias can be anywhere from humorous and endearing to annoying and disruptive to violent, making these sleep disorders potentially dangerous and necessary to treat.

We've found a wide variety of links to information about parasomnias, including sleepwalking, sleep talking, sleep paralysis, sexsomnia, REM sleep behavior disorder, nocturnal enuresis, night terrors, night eating syndrome, sleep eating disorder, and confusional arousals.

This week's links were published or updated between 3.6.16 and 10.30.16.

Confusional Arousals (also known as sleep drunkenness)

APR 15 || ELITE DAILY

Lack Of Sleep Has The Same Effects As Being Drunk, According To Study

MAY 13 || BUSTLE

How Being Woken Up Mid-Sleep Cycle Affects You

Night Eating Syndrome & Sleep Eating Disorder

MAR 29 || BUSTLE

What Is Night Eating Syndrome? 6 Things To Know About NES

APR 17 || HUFFINGTON POST SLEEP + WELLNESS

Night Eating: It’s More Common Than You Think

APR 29 || JACARANDA FM

Robbie Williams: I've been sleep-eating

JUN 26  || TELLYMIX

Natalie Rowe's bizarre sleep EATING is a Big Brother highlight

Night Terrors (also known as Sleep Terrors)

MAY 27 || TEEN VOGUE

Did You Just Have a Nightmare or a Night Terror? How to Tell the Difference

AUG 22 || EVENING STANDARD

Make My Body Better, Channel 4: Davina McCall helps night terror sufferer turn her life around

AUG 30 || ROMPER

What Are Night Terrors? They're Actually As Scary As They Sound

SEPT 21 || GULF NEWS

Sleep walking, terrors: what you should know

SEPT 27 || ECHO

Wirral teenager fell to death from balcony after suffering night terrors, inquest told

OCT 3 || FRASER COAST CHRONICLE

Tips for parents in battling their children's night terrors

OCT 26 || TEEN VOGUE

How Millie Bobby Brown Taught Maddie Ziegler About Night Terrors

Nightmare Disorder: Please see last week's curation on dreams and nightmares

Nocturnal Enuresis (also known as Bedwetting)

MAR 6 || PLOS ONE

Enuresis and Hyperactivity-Inattention in Early Adolescence: Findings from a Population-Based Survey in Tokyo (Tokyo Early Adolescence Survey)

MAY 29 || THE HEALTH SITE

Children are 50-70% more likely to wet their bed if their parents did too

JUN 29 || U INTERVIEW

Ian Ziering On Bedwetting And Helping Children Overcome It

JUN 30 || GOOD MEN PROJECT

A Dad’s Adventures with His Bedwetting Son

JULY 28 || AMERICAN SLEEP ASSOCIATION

Try Not To Cry When Your Child’s Not Dry — Finding Solutions To Bedwetting

JULY 29 || MARSHFIELD NEWS HERALD

When is bedwetting a health problem?

AUG 18 || RILEY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

Bedwetting in Kids: Tips, Triggers and Treatments

AUG 26 || YAHOO!

Adult Bedwetting Struggles

SEPT 17 || GISTMASTER
Tackling bed-wetting in children

OCT 5 || GOOD MEN PROJECT

What Comes Next After ‘Daddy, I Wet the Bed’?

OCT 18 || WDAC

Doctors seeing bedwetting and depression in school-age kids

OCT 23 || THE SUN

Killer Peter Sutcliffe bullied in new jail because he is a BED WETTER

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (also known as RBD)

MAR 26 || INVERSE

Parkinson's Disease is a Nightmare Full of Nightmares and One Women is Waking Up

JULY 23 || CBS NEWS

Mike Birbiglia: How sleepwalking paved path to success

AUG 1 || SLEEP

Mortality and Its Risk Factors in Patients with Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder (abstract)

SEPT 6 || SLEEP REVIEW

New Role of Adenosine in REM Sleep Regulation Discovered

OCT 18 || MY ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION

Sleep disorder makes husband a danger to wife (first advice column answer)

Sexsomnia (also known as Sleep Sex)

JUN 19 || DAILY MAIL

Rapist soldier who claimed he had attacked women in his sleep is finally jailed after avoiding justice for five years

JULY 12  || MID-DAY

Sexsomnia or having sex during sleep is a real thing, say experts

JULY 12  || SLEEP REVIEW

Sexual Behavior in Sleep Linked to Psychological Disorders

JULY 13  || DECCAN JOURNAL

Sleep sex or sexomnia: A dangerous disorder, can ruin lives

AUG 12  || STILLWATER NEWS PRESS

Cushing man claims "sexsomnia" as defense after lewd molestation charge

OCT 12  || THE IRISH TIMES

Expert tells court rape accused diagnosed as having sexsomnia

Sleep Paralysis

MAY 26 || THE ATLANTIC

Awake in a Nightmare

MAY 31 || THUMP

Asher Levitas Depicts the Horror and Humor of Sleep Paralysis on His Debut Solo LP

JUN 11 || BUSINESS INSIDER

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and can't move — here's why

JULY || THE SCIENCE OF US

A Neuroscientist Tried to Help Me Overcome My Sleep Paralysis

AUG 4 || BRAIN BLOGGER

Hallucinations vs Delusions – What’s the Difference?

SEPT 19 || MEDICAL XPRESS

Sleep paralysis: When your peaceful slumber turns into a haunting nightmare

SEPT 20 || MEDICAL DAILY

Sleep Paralysis Movie 'Dead Awake' Reveals Real-Life Horror Of Having A Frozen Body But Awake Brain

SEPT 26 || MEDLINE PLUS

The Phenomenon of Sleep Paralysis

OCT 10 || LIVESCIENCE

The Demon on Your Chest and Other Terrifying Tales of Sleep Paralysis

OCT 12 || CBS LOCAL CHICAGO

Sleep Paralysis: ‘A Really Scary Experience’

OCT 13 || SBS

When a ghost creeps into your bed: Sleep paralysis

OCT 23 || FOX NEWS

BOO! Did you really see a ghost?

OCT 27 || CBS LOCAL PHILLY

How To Get Through Sleep Paralysis Disorder With Less Fear

OCT 29 || WTHR
Have you seen a ghost? There may be a medical reason

Sleep Talking

JUN 15 || DAILY POST

Flintshire noisy neighbour in court for shouting vile abuse...but claimed he was 'sleep talking'

AUG 1 || DAILY DOT

Meet the couple who turn their sleep-talking into surreal cartoons

AUG 10 || FEMALE FIRST

Couples are sleep talking their way into arguments

AUG 22 || THE SUN

Woman documents 13 years of her partner’s sleep talking… and he posts the entire thing on Imgur

SEPT 19 || THE DAILY MAIL

ASK THE DOCTOR: Why do some people scream in their sleep?

OCT 25 || DAILY MAIL

'If they ask about the pickles, say nothing!' People reveal the strangest things their partners have said in their sleep

Sleepwalking (also known as Somnambulism)

JUN 8 || DAILY MAIL
Girl, 16, falls 50ft to her death while SLEEPWALKING at her parents' apartment in Turkey

JUN 9 || SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Sleepwalking Chinese woman falls out of window ... but escapes unhurt after landing on canopy

JUN 10 || MENS XP
This Is The Real Reason Why People Sleepwalk & It Can Be Really Dangerous

JUN 13 || IRISH MIRROR
Sky Sports presenter Rachel Wyse went sleepwalking in her underwear through Swedish Hotel

JUN 16 || BBC SPORTS
Injured canoeist Viktoria Schwarz misses Euros after sleepwalking off balcony

JUN 28 || GAZETTE LIVE
Do you sleepwalk? Police had to help naked man, woman in pyjamas and more last year

JUL 26 || MEDSCAPE
Sleepwalking: The Science, Cures, and Consequences

OCT 3 || THE SUN
Chronic sleepwalker spends her nights making cups of tea and getting ready for work in her SLEEP

OCT 13 || WZZM 13
Ambien users react to 13 Watchdog investigation of sleep driving defense (video)

OCT 15 || THE SATURDAY PAPER

The science of sleepwalking

OCT 27 || SOUTH WALES ARGUS
Postman who drowned may have been sleepwalking, inquest hears

Spotlight: Dreams & Nightmares

SPOTLIGHT: Dreams & Nightmares

The psychological study of dreams and nightmares inspired the birth of modern 

sleep medicine in the mid-20th century.

Though the science behind dream analysis is a completely separate and legitimate realm of sleep science more or less "owned" by the field of psychology.

However, the narratives the mind processes during sleep have a distinct impact on sleep health and behaviors. 

There's never a shortage of interest in the subject. 

Let's take a closer look at the broad influence that dreams and nightmares can have over our sleep lives. 











HAT TIP to New York Magazine's fantastic coverage of these topics in their Science of Us section.

This week's links were published or updated between 5.25.16 and 10.25.16.

MAY 25 || LIFEHACKER

A Therapist Explains Why You Shouldn't Be Freaked Out By Your Dreams

MAY 27 || RICHMOND REGISTER

Getting kids back to sleep after nighttime wakenings

JULY 20 || LEAFLY

Cannabis and Dreams: Halting Long-Term Use Can Lead to One Strange Side Effect

AUG 2 || THE MIRROR

The reason we always seem to wake up just before the best bit of a dream

AUG 11 || SCOOP

Dream expert reveals meaning of nightmares

SEPT 2 || EXPRESS

Why do we dream?

SEPT 5 || BUSTLE

5 Tips For Remembering Your Dreams After You've Woken Up

SEPT 7 || ZME SCIENCE

What do blind people ‘see’ when they dream?

SEPT 12 || GEEKTIME

This Dutch team has built a lucid dreaming machine

SEPT 12 || YAHOO!

To sleep, perchance to dream lucidly: Wearable iBand+ aims to improve slumber

SEPT 14 || ALTERNET

6 Fascinating Facts About Dreams

SEPT 22 || HUFFINGTON POST

What Your Weird Dreams Really Mean

OCT 5 || DREAM RESEARCH & EDUCATION

Review of the 2016 Conference of the International Association for the Study of Dreams

OCT 6 || DREAM RESEARCH & EDUCATION

Dreams of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump

OCT 7 || SCIENCE OF US ~ NEW YORK MAGAZINE

Little Kids Use Their Dreams to Figure Out Real Life

OCT 11 || CBS NEWS

Service dog protects his little boy from nightmares

OCT 12 || SCIENCE OF US ~ NEW YORK MAGAZINE

How Much Do You Know About Freudian Dream-Interpretation?

OCT 12 || SCIENCE OF US ~ NEW YORK MAGAZINE

These Lucid-Dreaming Companies Want to Help You Control Your Dreams

OCT 12 || SCIENCE OF US ~ NEW YORK MAGAZINE

What It’s Like When Your Daydreams Are Just As Real As Life

OCT 14 || SCIENCE OF US ~ NEW YORK MAGAZINE

How the Surrealists Harnessed Their Dreams and Made the World Way Weirder

OCT 14 || SCIENCE OF US ~ NEW YORK MAGAZINE

Why Dreams Are So Essential to ISIS Sympathizers

OCT 14 || SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

Can Treating Nightmares Prevent Suicides?

OCT 17 || SCIENCE OF US ~ NEW YORK MAGAZINE

All My Dreams Are Boring. Does That Make Me a Boring Person?

OCT 18 || THE ONLINE CLARION

Steps you can take for healthy dreaming

OCT 20 || SCIENCE OF US ~ NEW YORK MAGAZINE

If Your Uncontrollable Life Is Making You Anxious, Try Controlling Your Dreams

OCT 20 || SCIENCE OF US ~ NEW YORK MAGAZINE

Use a Dream Journal to Understand Your Waking Life

OCT 20 || SCIENCE OF US ~ NEW YORK MAGAZINE

A Professional Guide to Dream Interpretation

OCT 21 || SCIENCE OF US ~ NEW YORK MAGAZINE

Why Your Dreams Go Crazy When You Stop Smoking Weed

OCT 22 || HALL OF FAME MAGAZINE

Selena Gomez Latest News: Justin Bieber Issue, Nightmares Hunt Singer in her Sleep?

OCT 23 || SCIENCE OF US ~ NEW YORK MAGAZINE

5 of Humanity’s Best Ideas of What Dreams Actually Are

SPOTLIGHT: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, aka "Crib death"

SPOTLIGHT: CRIB DEATH (SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME)

SOURCE: CDC/NCHS

October is Safe Sleep Awareness Month, and that means making sure our youngest and most vulnerable people are sleeping without risk of suffocation or a mysterious case of SIDS.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), also referred to in some cases as Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID or SUDI), cot death, or crib death, takes the lives of 3,500 infants under age 1 years in the United States. 

This is an absolutely heartbreaking essay written by a mother who lost her baby to SIDS: please steel yourself and go read it to be reminded of the blessings that we all have when our children sleep through the night safely and wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. The mysterious nature of SIDS makes these deaths exponentially tragic because there's still so much we don't know about this disorder, which can still occur even in babies who are not co-sleeping or asleep on their tummies.

This week, we spotlight recent news about SIDS with content spanning the last six months.

This week's links were published or updated been 4.29.16 and 10.14.16.

APR 29 || CAPITAL GAZETTE

County health officials: Seven infants have died of SUIDs so far in 2016, matching 2013 record

APR 29 || KUOW

Unsafe Sleep Leading Cause Of Infant Death In Washington’s Child Welfare System

MAY 6 || US NEWS & WORLD REPORT

How to Promote Safe Sleep for Your Infant

MAY 8 || GAINESVILLE TIMES

State agencies rally to prevent infants dying in sleep

MAY 10 || SLEEP REVIEW

Serotonin Reduces Apnea, Could be Clue to SIDS

MAY 11 || HEALTH NEWS REVIEW

Swaddling and SIDS: Why scary headlines got it wrong

MAY 11 || JACKSON FREE PRESS

Infant Mortality Prevention, Social Service Jobs on Budget Chop Block

MAY 11 || MIC.com

Here's The Thing About Sudden Infant Death Syndrome That No One Is Talking About

MAY 11 || TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

New initiative promotes safe newborn sleep

MAY 13 || KOMO 4 NEWS

SIDS study could connect mysterious death to inner ear problem (video)

MAY 19 || 11 ALIVE ATLANTA

First Lady helps launch Ga. 'Safe to Sleep' campaign (video)

MAY 19 || UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

Bereaved parents should be given full details about how to reduce sudden infant death syndrome risk 

MAY 24 || IDEA STREAM

Why Do Babies Die In Their Sleep? (podcast)

MAY 24 || REUTERS

Parents who lose a baby to SIDS want more information

MAY 24 || WOOD TV

Deaths at day cares often related to unsafe sleep

MAY 27 || WEST

There is no link between vaccines and sudden infant death

JUN 1 || BUFFALO NEWS

Letter: Legislation will help reduce infant deaths

JUN 2 || THE ATLANTIC

Understanding Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

JUN 2 || ROMPER

Are Infant Sleep Sacks Safe?

JUN 7 || WRAL

Simple sleeping habits can help prevent sudden infant death

JUN 24 || PARENT HERALD

Apps That Track Babies’ Bodies And Movements Give Parents ‘Peace Of Mind’

JUL 2 || INQUISITR

SIDS study reveals three factors that increase infant's risk

JUL 18 || NEWS-MEDICAL.net

What is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and how many babies and toddlers die from SIDS each year?

JUL 25 || UMMID

​Covering baby's pram may lead to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

JUL 26 || ENGADGET

Owlet's wearable SIDS alarm isn't ready for the real world

AUG 7 || ROMPER

Is SIDS Genetic? It's Unlikely That Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Is In The Genes environments

AUG 9 || HERALD SUN

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): Baby flat head fears stoking risks—research  environments

AUG 11 || THE GUARDIAN

Number of cot deaths in England and Wales falls to lowest on record environments

AUG 15 || USA TODAY

Study: Parents still put babies in risky sleep environments (video)

AUG 17 || INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome – Why parents may choose to put babies in 'unsafe' sleeping positions

AUG 18 || THE NEWS & OBSERVER

Man invents device to help prevent infant death while babies sleep

AUG 18 || PARENT HERALD

Baby Safety: Safety Bed To Minimize Risk Of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

AUG 23 || SOMERSET LIVE

What is sudden infant death syndrome, and how can you prevent it?

AUG 26 || THE GUARDIAN

Back to sleep: the doctor who helped stem a cot death epidemic

AUG 29 || HERALD-MAIL MEDIA

Say YES to Safe Sleep for Babies Campaign

AUG 30 || THE GUARDIAN

Breastfeeding, air pollution and sudden infant death syndrome environments

SEPT 9 || ROMPER

7 Things You Can Do To Your Home Or Apartment To Reduce The Risk Of SIDS

SEPT 9 || WASHINGTON TIMES

County’s high infant mortality sparks concern, research

SEPT 12 || BRIGHTON-PITTSFORD POST

Rochester General Hospital named Safe Sleep Champion

SEPT 16 || LOS ANGELES TIMES

Op-Ed: It's OK to sleep next to your infant child. It's even beneficial

SEPT 17 || WDAY

Woman behind required daycare training for sudden infant death, honored at Fargodome Saturday

SEPT 27 || PARENT HERALD

Dangers Of Bed-Sharing With Babies: Alarming Rates Of Suffocation Or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Recorded

SEPT 28 || NBC-15 WMTV

Spreading awareness about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

SEPT 30 || ROMPER

Does Co-Sleeping Protect Your Kid From Illness? Many Experts Argue It Does

SEPT 30 || WTVA

Dawson’s Dream develops from mother’s worst nightmare

OCT 4 || SLEEP REVIEW

Infant Safe Sleep Practices On Rise In New York Hospitals Participating In Perinatal Study

OCT 7 || CINCINNATI.com

SIDS Cookbook spreads the love for Jean-Robert de Cavel's cause

OCT 7 || CLOSER

REVEALED: the one thing you should NEVER do with your baby's pram

OCT 7 || SHREVEPORT TIMES

October is Safe Sleep Awareness Month

OCT 8 || ACCRINGTON OBSERVER

Baby tragedy in Great Harwood was 'cot death' - inquest

OCT 8 || THE NORTHERN STAR

Young mum's 'distressing case' to bring a law change

OCT 9 || THE DAILY REPUBLIC

Revealing myths, facts about SIDS

OCT 10 || CENTRALMAINE.com

Our Opinion: Maine’s public health shortfall impacts infant mortality

OCT 10 || EMPORIA GAZETTE

Wade's Ride raises $13,000 for SIDS Prevention

OCT 10 || OHIO CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS

Ohio AAP Promotes Safe Sleep for SIDS Awareness Month

OCT 10 || ROMPER

7 Myths About SIDS That Are Putting Babies In Danger

OCT 10 || WEAU 13 NEWS

Health Beat with Dr. Alicia Arnold: SIDS - Oct. 10th (video)

OCT 11 || ECONOTIMES
SIDS Awareness Month: Know the Facts: When SIDS is Classified Wrong

OCT 11 || INDIE ONLINE
Program to cover infant sleeping safety

(Oct 24, Massillon, OH)

OCT 11 || JAMA NETWORK
Molecular Autopsy for Sudden Unexpected Death

OCT 11 || KFOR

How to create a safe sleep environment for your baby

OCT 11 || LIVERPOOL LIFE

Baby Box scheme to support parents

OCT 11 || SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

TSRI and STSI scientists use 'molecular autopsies' to find clues to sudden death

OCT 12 || CALIFORNIA HEALTHLINE

Genetic Testing Doesn’t Always Hold The Answers To A Sudden, Unexpected Death

OCT 12 || JOHNS HOPKINS ALL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

Preventing SIDS

OCT 12 || THE SUN

TELLY STARS' HEARTACHE - We were overjoyed the day our baby finally took every bottle… but she died later that night

OCT 12 || WHSV

How to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

OCT 13 || ABC NEWS AUSTRALIA

Doctors pledge to reduce rate of sudden unexpected death in children under four

OCT 13 || BEDTIMES MAGAZINE

Babies Still Sleep in High-Risk SIDS Environments

OCT 13 || DAILY POST

Brave Gwynedd mum tells of heartache of losing a child to cot death

OCT 13 || DIGITAL JOURNAL

Parent’s Rights USA provides useful information about baby care for parents

OCT 13 || HUFFINGTON POST

Living For Eddie - A Bereaved Dad’s Story

OCT 13 || MARKET WIRED

Baby's Breath: October Is SIDS Awareness Month -- Why Is Changing SIDS to "Undetermined" on Infant Death Certificates Across Canada Devastating for the SIDS Community

OCT 13 || PRWEB

Science-driven Product With a Social Mission Helps Parents Make Safer Sleep Choices

OCT 13 || THE SUN

'IT WAS SO PAINFUL' - Loose Women star Anne Diamond opens up about heart breaking loss of her son to cot death

OCT 13 || TELEGRAPH

MP moves House of Commons to tears as she shares story of the death of her baby girl Veronica

OCT 14 || KENTUCKY FORWARD

SmartHealthToday: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) — reduce the risks to protect your baby

OCT 14 || NEW ZEALAND HERALD

International Baby Loss Week: Couple who lost two children in three years