Sleep in individuals with Cri du Chat syndrome: a comparative study.
Sleep problems in Cri du Chat are common but not unique; target night waking and check for anxiety or sensory triggers just like you would in other IDs.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Cramm et al. (2009) asked parents about sleep in three groups: Cri du Chat syndrome, Down syndrome, and non-specific intellectual disability. They used the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children. Parents filled out the survey at home.
The goal was to see if Cri du Chat brings extra sleep trouble beyond general ID.
What they found
Three in ten children with Cri du Chat had clinical-level sleep problems. That rate matched the non-specific ID group and was higher than the Down syndrome group.
Night waking and breathing-related behaviors stood out most in Cri du Chat.
How this fits with other research
Greene et al. (2019) found 83% of Korean kids with Down syndrome had sleep problems, far above the 30% in Cramm et al. (2009). The gap likely comes from different cut-off scores and cultures, not a true jump in prevalence.
Baker et al. (2025) widened the lens to many rare genetic disorders. They showed sleep issues link to anxiety, sensory sensitivities, and age. Their work extends M et al. by giving you traits to probe during intake.
Taylor et al. (2017) later proved the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire works best in Down syndrome. If you re-screen after a Cri du Chat diagnosis, you can trust the same tool.
Why it matters
You can stop assuming Cri du Chat means worse sleep than other IDs. Still, plan for night waking and noisy breathing. Ask about anxiety and sensory triggers, borrow items from Baker et al. (2025), then pick an evidence-based sleep plan like faded bedtime plus response cost from Duker et al. (1991).
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Add the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children to your intake packet and flag any report of night waking for a brief functional assessment.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Sleep problems are common in individuals with intellectual disability. Little is known about sleep in children and adults with Cri du Chat syndrome (CDC). METHOD: Sleep was investigated in 30 individuals with CDC using a sleep questionnaire. Sleep problems and sleep behaviours in individuals with CDC were compared with individuals with non-specific intellectual disabilities (NS) (n = 30) and Down's syndrome (DS) (n = 30). RESULTS: Nine individuals with CDC (i.e. 30%) had a sleep problem, compared with seven individuals with NS (i.e. 23%) and three individuals with DS (i.e. 10%). Though there were few differences between diagnostic groups, night waking problems were most common in CDC. Individuals with CDC frequently showed behaviours related to disordered breathing and poor-quality sleep. Several behaviours related to sleep had a higher occurrence in CDC than in DS (P < 0.05) but not in NS. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that individuals with CDC do not have an increased probability of sleep problems as compared with other individuals who share similar demographic characteristics. Hypotheses about causes of night waking problems in CDC are generated and suggestions for future research of sleep in individuals with CDC are given.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2009 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2009.01184.x