Preventing Sleep Problems

In infants as young as two months, a definate sleep wake cycle has been demonstrated. Traditionally it is expected that from about three months of life, infants have a recognisable sleep wake pattern. How can parents help infants to develop an understanding of a good sleep pattern?

Babies learn to tell night from day when they are offered naps in normal ambient daylight with normal household noise. Your infant has listened to your breathing, heartbeat and digestion during their time in the womb. To suddenly have a silent world is strange and worrying. Background noise helps make sudden loud noise less upsetting. Don't close the curtains and darken the room at nap times.

Decide when you want your child to go to bed and when is a good time to wake up. Most families work on a 7am-7pm sleep wake cycle but there is nothing wrong with an 8am to 8pm pattern. Your child will live in your home in your lifestyle. Choose the times that best suit that lifestyle and develop recognisable routines so that your child can learn to anticipate what happens next. This makes the child secure and confident.

Young children have a very small window when they will settle to sleep quickly. Miss this opportunity and settling is a prolonged and difficult process. Learn to recognise your child's sleepy signals and to settle your child quickly.

Your routine before bed should consist of three things which you could do anywhere on the planet. These should be completed in the same order at the same time every night. Children learn by demonstration and repetition. This routine should not be longer than 30 minutes. Your child will quickly learn the order of this routine and know what is expected of them once it is completed.

Put your child down to sleep when they are calm and drowsy. If your child learns to settle by themselves you won't need to spend a lot of time with them to get them to go to sleep.

If you need help and support to teach your child to settle or stay asleep,
Contact Dream-Angus.com

Sleep and the Autistic child

The rate of sleep disturbance and sleep disorders is notably higher in children who have other health or developmental disorders. Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders and Autism have particular difficulties in sensory processing. These can be general or specific to that child. There are ways to assist children affected by these difficulties to improve their sleep pattern and thus improve the whole families sleep.

Patterns and routines are even more important as they cue the child to expect the next consequence or next event. Having a good, simple, regular routine is comforting to a child. Other sensory assistance in getting the child to be calm and ready to sleep can be successfully used in different formats, different intensities and variations to meet the child's sensory needs.

Using "heavy work" concentrates the child's energy and calms. Pushing a weighted basket round an obstacle course can be fun. The basket should be heavy and require effort but not so heavy as to strain the child pushing it. Playing wheelbarrow games where the child is the wheelbarrow may also be helpful. Again, this requires concentration of effort.

Some children benefit from the use of a weighted blanket. There are a variety of manufacturers who produce these. The blanket may be weighted with a variety of fillings. Ideally the weight of the blanket should be about 2.2Kgs heavier than the child. Tucking a child in a weighted blanket offers firm pressure over the body and for some children this is very comforting. It can feel a little like being swaddled, held comfortably without the need for someone to do the holding.

Using white noise in the bedroom can help some children because it blocks other noise and reduces distraction. For some children the same techniques which help children settle to sleep and remain asleep are every bit as effective for children affected by Autism and Autistic spectrum disorders. It simply requires more repetition before the child can relax and settle into the routine.

Every child is different. What works for one child may be less effective for another and it can take a while trying and repeating things to identify the most effective routine and resource for your child.

If you would like help with your child's sleep, Contact Dream-Angus.com

How long does it take to alter sleep behaviour?

If your child has a sleep difficulty it is important that that difficulty is first clearly identified. There are a range of sleep disorders which children and adults can experience.
Once that difficulty is identified, through a detailed history, and the duration of the problem is known, it can take as little as four to six weeks to resolve.

When a child has another underlying health issue, or has a handicapping condition, it may take three to four months to properly resolve the sleep difficulty.

The main requirement in following any behaviour altering programme, is that the routines set are consisitent and this can require a great deal of effort from parents and carers. Being consistent with a child when you yourself have a sleep deficit is not always easy. There are always times when it is much simpler to give in, to accept a level of unwanted and/or antisocial behaviour, than to be firm and insist that a set behaviour has a consistent consequence.

Circadian Rhythm disorders require the greatest comittment as the behaviour alteration has not only to alter the body clock, but to maintain that alteration for at least two or three months longer than the original duration of the difficulty. Even at that, altering routines by as much or as little as one hour can upset the system and require a "re start". This can try the motivation of the young person as well as the patience of the parents.

That said, the resolution of these difficulties brings enormous rewards in the entire body system, mental health and attitude to life.

If you would like help in resolving your child's sleep difficulty..
Contact;- www. Dream-Angus.com

Seasonal issues

At this time of year it is particularly important to ensure that our children get enough sleep. Excited children, fighting sleep in the hope of catching Santa leaving presents, seeing the reindeer, or just taking part in the more sociable aspects of Christmas and New Year make life more difficult as their accompanying sleep deficit makes them more active and often more confrontational. It is so important to have a quiet period before bed. To allow and encourage children to wind down and sleep.

At the same time many manufacturers are promising all sorts of "aids to restful sleep" and in the Christmas spirit we may be tempted to spend money on gadgets which offer this golden promise. Unfortunately there is no golden gadget which can fulfill the promise of a good night's sleep. Medication can acheive this, but who wants to become dependant on medication for a good nights sleep? Light therapy can help individuals with circadian rhythm disorders, but have little benefit for the rest of the population.

In order to acheive a good nights sleep routines of wake and sleep times are vital. Ensuring that one wakes at the same time and settles to sleep at the same time every night are the practical habits which reinforce our body clocks. Having some out door exercise in the fresh, albeit cold/wet air every day will also help. Sleep is something we learn to do. We learn by repetition and by habit, so it is important that our habits are good.

Having a quiet hour, making the last hour of wakefulness less stimulating, even boring, prepares our minds for sleep. Breathing excercises, yoga, or meditation may help adults to remove themselves from the stresses and cares of the day and quiet the mind. Children who are read to or who read or work on quiet activities are much more likely to go to bed happily than those who have had a busy time or participated in stimulating exciting activities before bedtime.

There are recognised "Good Hygiene Guidelines" which we should review and adhere to if we want our children to go to sleep and wake rested and bright in the morning.

If you would like a free copy of these contact Dream-Angus.com

Childcare outwith the home.

Many mums have to work these days and this means that they must seek child care. Finding a suitable place which has a space to take your child involves considerable research. What are you looking for in a creche or day care centre? What recommendations have you had and what or where is the most convenient place for you?


No matter how caring the staff they are not going to do things as you would yourself. That's not possible when they have numbers of children to care for. If you have a good routine for your child there is every possiblity that this will be maintained, if you tell the staff about it. If you are still struggling to get your child to nap in the daytime, or if you really want your child up and awake by 3.30pm to avoid the knock on effect on night sleep, then you have to consider the routine within the care facility.

If you have the opportunity to develop a good routine for your child before you need child care then use that opportunity wisely. It can take 3-4 weeks to establish a sound daytime nap routine, once you have confidence in this it can be easier to allow your child to be cared for outwith the home. This is a big adjustment period for both parents and child. As long as the experiences the child has at home are loving and supportive, children will adapt reasonably easily to a child care facility. For most children day care can be a positive experience offering them the opportunity to play and interact with other children. Learning that there are some experiences which don't include mum and dad but are still enjoyable can help with a degree if independance before separation to start school.

When you have to find care for infants it is not so easy to explain to them that they cannot be with you all the time. The best you can do for your infant is to make the time you have together happy for both of you. Starting to make routines early in life can prove a touchstone for a little one. If the care facility can continue to maintain these routines then it is so much easier all round. If you are confident in the care provision you have set up for your child and confident that your child has the routines in place to calmly accept this new adaptation the whole experience can be so much simpler.

Starting at day care or nursery.

All children have to learn to cope with temporary separations from their parents. Learning to be apart can be difficult for both parent and child however parents need time to themselves occasionally and children benefit from spending time with other people and other children.

Shyness around new people and anxiety about separation from parents is common in children of pre school age.

If your child is old enough to understand what is happening then, before starting your child at a child care center talk about this with your child. Visit the place together so that your child feels comfortable there. Stay close and allow your child to watch the other children. Don't force your child to join the activities and if possible make several visits gradually extending the time you spend together there. Invite other children from the group to your home so that your child can get to know them a little and look for them in the group.

On the day explain to your child where they are going where you are going and when you will return. Do this in terms that the child can understand. Make sure that the care giver has all they may need to take care of your child. Suggest that your child bring something to the group, a special toy or other comforting item from home. You could perhaps leave something of your own to reassure your child that you will return. For the first few times you may want to reward your child by spending time in the park on the way home, or playing a special game with mum or dad.

Develop a routine for the times when you leave your child with some one else. After a while your child will be able to say what the steps are, e.g.

Say hello to the care giver and other children.

Find something to do.

Kiss or say good bye to mum/dad.

Explain to your child that you will leave, even if they do not want you to, once you have said "goodbye".

When you return greet your child and spend some individual time with them. Ask about what they did while you were gone. If your care giver tells you about something interesting your child has done show an interest and praise your child. Be prepared for your child to be a little clingy this is normal after separations.

Remember;-

When practical, prepare your child ahead of time.

Tell your child where you are going and when you will return.

Develop a routine and explain the steps to your child.

Talk about rewards.

Prepare the care giver.

Introduce others to your child.

Help your child find something to do.

Praise your child for mixing or playing with others.

Say goodbye and leave ignore protests and do not go back.

When you return, greet your child and spend time with them ask about their activities.

Review the steps with your child in a way that they can understand

Sleep and the sensory strategies.

Every child can learn to sleep regardless of physical handicap or mental disability. Children with sensory impairment may require a more detailed plan and children with developmental delay or disability often experience more profound difficulties in settling and maintaining sleep.

Routine is a very important part of forming regular patterns in children's behaviour. Routines are reassuring touchstones in every child's day. Children who have a different understanding of the world value routines even more than average. In an uncertain world where every day brings new challenges, routine reminds the child of the time of day, and leads to the expectancy of fixed events. Bed and wake time should be the most fixed of all the events in the child's day. Routines built to ensure a calm and responsive reaction to bedtime and wake time help the child to cope and understand the actions that are expected and follow on from them.

For sensory impaired children a bedtime routine that starts at the same time EVERY night is vital. Ensuring that the hour before bedtime is spent in calming activities without recourse to playstations or television, enjoying quiet calming activities help cue sleep.

Using a weighted blanket, flannel sheets, giving deep pressure contact or making a snug place in the bed using pillows or, a sleeping bag makes a child feel "held" and comforted which is relaxing and prepares the body and mind for sleep. If a light is required it should not be bright but a soft dim light is more calming.

Limiting the time for each pre bed activity helps acceptance of that activity. White noise and story tapes have their place in this and are very soothing for some children. The child who learns to achieve simple tasks with encouragement and by themselves gains in confidence.
The rituals which form part of the cues for sleeping and waking also help instil a sense of confidence and self awareness in the child.

There is no reason to endure sleep deficit when it is entirely possible to alter a sleep behaviour with a good plan and committment to following through. Sleep deficit doesn't just affect the child but the whole family.

Contact Dream-Angus.com for information and support to improve your child's sleep