Tips to help your child sleep better

Sleep problems in children are not unusual. For both children and adolescents it can be up to 40% who have problems with sleep at some stage. For children with a disability this figure can be even higher.

Good sleep is important as it helps with making memories, learning and refreshing our bodies. Problems with sleep not only impacts upon their functioning and development but it is also likely to increase parent and family stress.

Sleep problems often vary from child to child and are influenced by many things. Some of the common things which influence sleep are: changes in living arrangements, family structure, and death of a loved one, starting school, problems with friends, cyber bullying, sickness, low mood or depression. Other children may be afraid to go to sleep on their own, insist on not sleeping alone, or have a long list of demands to delay going to sleep... Have you ever heard ‘I’m hungry’, ‘Can I have a drink?’, ‘I need to go the toilet’, or ‘Just one more book’.

Things you can look out for if you think your child has sleep problems:

• Unable to fall asleep quickly or alone
• Waking up often or for long periods during the night
• Snoring or restless sleep
• Frequent nightmares or night terrors
• Going to bed too late, hard to wake or waking too early
• Being tired in the morning
• Problems concentrating
• Problems at school
• Irritability or tantrums

How can you help?

• Check with your doctor if you have concerns about how your child is breathing at night or if they seem to be in any discomfort or pain. There may be physical reason for this.
• Encourage and support a healthy diet, regular exercise and time outside. A healthy diet and regular exercise is important for development. Getting out and about will ensure that your child is tired at night and ready to sleep.
• Help your child develop their body clock by keeping regular sleep and wake times. This includes weekends. If your child likes to stay up late and sleep in on the weekend a good rule of thumb is to aim for approximately a 2 hour difference between the weekday and the weekend.
• Help your child develop a regular and consistent bedtime routine. This will help children transition between daytime activities and getting ready for sleep. Children like predictability and this helps them get ready to go to sleep.
• Put aside time for your child to relax and wind down before bed. Most adults can’t go to sleep straight away. Kids need time to wind down too. Try relaxing activities such as reading together, listening to gentle music with the lights down low.
• Provide a comfortable sleep environment, this includes making sure the room is at a good temperature to help promote sleep. Keep the noise levels down after your child has gone to sleep.
• Avoid caffeine drinks, kids don’t need them. For teenagers avoid caffeinated drinks in the afternoon and evening.

Sleep Help for Children

Sometimes it can take a while for a sleep problem to be noticed. If you suspect your child has a problem with their sleep look at how they sleep and keep a diary how much sleep they are getting during the night (taking away any awake during the night). If you have concerns about snoring or restlessness record this also. You can then take this to your doctor to discuss your concerns and if needed a referral to a sleep specialist or psychologist can then be made. Further if you child has a disability and isn’t sleeping it may be worth making an appointment with one of the psychologists at Child and Family Psychology who can make individual recommendations for your child.

How much sleep do we need?

There is no magic number, the amount of sleep we need varies from person to person. It is true some people need more sleep than others and some less, but generally most of us roughly need:

Age Total Sleep Needed

1 – 4 weeks 16 - 17 hours

1 – 12 months 14 -15 hours

1 – 3 years 12 – 14 hours

3 – 6 years 10 – 14 hours

7 – 12 years 10 – 11 hours

12 – 18 years 9 – 10 hours

Adult 7 – 9 hours