[Sleep evaluation in infancy, early childhood and childhood].

There is no common strategy for the determination of sleep stages in the childhood. In the first year of life, the differentiation in active and quiet sleep has been established. But there are several opinions about necessary parameters for the characterization of sleep states in this period of life. Therefore, the results of these evaluations are quite different. Our presented concept of sleep staging reflects neurophysiological, vegetative as well as behavioral parameters. The concept divides the sleep into light sleep, deep sleep and REM-periods. The determination of sleep states is possible by this concept both in infants and in children of different age, because it considers developmental changes of used physiological criteria.