As many as 25 percent of all children have sleep disorders, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Such disorders include frequent night awakenings, insomnia and even sleep apnea.

Among children under 11, as many as 60 percent experience some kind of sleep disruption at least a few nights a week.

So, parents awakened in the night by a sleepless child have lots of company nationwide. One big culprit: sleep apnea, which occurs when blockages in the airway trigger snoring and frequent nighttime awakenings.

"About 2 to 3 percent of children will have sleep apnea," said Mindell, co-author of Take Charge of Your Child's Sleep. "About 10 to 12 percent of kids snore on a regular basis, but not all children who snore have sleep apnea. In children, the primary cause of obstructive sleep apnea is enlarged tonsils or adenoids."

In most cases, tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy offers a quick fix for pediatric sleep apnea, Mindell said. But there's another contributing factor that's rising in prevalence -- obesity. "In obese kids, what you're getting is the tonsils and adenoids being big, and then the weight on the neck closing the airways," she explained.

The daytime drowsiness that comes with sleep apnea can greatly affect a child's mood, daytime alertness and academics. One 2006 study in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine found that youngsters with sleep apnea scored lower on standard IQ tests compared with unaffected kids -- an average of 85 points vs. 100, respectively.

We actually took Ari to the doctor for snoring. When Eli was first born both my mother and mother-in-law heard him and told us it wasn’t “normal.” The doctor gave him a nasal spray, which after a couple months killed the snoring. DH and I were relieved because the next step would have been for him to get an adenoidectomy, which we were dead set against because of the general anesthesia.

Still, he wakes up frequently and his teachers have told me he is tired. We are hoping once Eli stops waking in the middle of the night we can all get some sleep.

Do your children have sleep disorders? I have a question for you mommas with multiple children: How did you make sure the older kids got ample sleep even with a newborn in the house?