You don't have to be an adult to have insomnia. Children can also have problems sleeping -- and no simple lullaby will cure them.

Among the chief culprits, which also goes for adults: a skyrocketing obesity rate.

Obesity has been directly linked to sleep apnea, a disorder characterized by breathing pauses throughout the night, resulting in disturbed, unrestful sleep. For adults, the condition is often treated with a special oxygen mask to be worn at night, but with children, surgery is often done to remove tonsils and adenoids.

Some experts are also starting to link the explosion of attention deficit disorders to sleep disorders.

''There is a lack of concentration in the daytime, at school, a lack of focus, that we think could be due to ADD,'' says Dr. Lal Bhagchandani, director of the Coral Springs Sleep Disorder Center, which treats children 5 and older.

Other disorders -- or manifestations of disorders -- that may affect children's sleep are sleepwalking, ''bed-rocking,'' nocturnal bed-wetting, acid reflux and ''night terrors,'' in which they wake up frightened and remember their nightmares.

Dr. Shahriar Shahzeidi, assistant professor of pediatrics with the UHealth Sleep Program at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, treats children experiencing night terrors -- also called parasomnia -- with sleeping pills as well as environmental changes.

''You have to try to provide a calm environment,'' he said. ''They should not be exposed to any environmental violence,'' he adds, referring to things such as horror movies and violent games.

Just as adults experiencing chronic or serious sleep difficulties are referred to hospital sleep labs where studies can be done overnight, children are also undergoing sleep studies. Hospitals throughout South Florida have special sleep labs for children, including the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Miami Children's Hospital and the Pediatric Sleep Program at the University of Miami.

The pediatric sleep labs are characterized by child-friendly decors, including brightly colored walls, stuffed animals on the nightstand, animal-print comforters and flat-screen televisions kids can switch to their favorite channel. Parents are invited to stay overnight on pull-out couches or cots.

''We try to make it look like a regular room as much as possible,'' said Dr. Juan C. Martinez, director of the pediatric sleep lab at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. ``We try to hide the equipment and emphasize the decor. They do get scared when they see the wires coming at them.''

Dr. Marcel Deray, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Miami Children's Hospital, says 90 percent of the time, he can treat children through behavior modification. Usually, the parents are responsible, he said, by giving children too much to drink at night, not setting bedtimes, allowing children to sleep in the parents' beds and engaging in other routines.

Sleeping difficulties for teenagers -- notorious night owls -- could be fixed easily, Deray said, by starting school at 8:30 a.m. or later. ''They've done that in Minnesota, but it hasn't caught on here yet,'' he said.

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