As we navigate the twilight hour, crafting a serene bedtime routine for your child can seem like a distant dream. But what if it didn't have to be? Unravel the complexities of a tranquil nighttime ritual, with a special focus on the unique needs of children on the autism spectrum. Embracing the hush of evening, we discuss tailoring the perfect environment, from soothing stories to the critical power-down of electronics, ensuring your little one drifts into slumber land with ease. Delving into the essentials, such as the importance of consistency and addressing potential sleep disruptors, our conversation offers an arsenal of strategies for parents looking to transform bedtime from a battlefield into a sanctuary of rest.
For those evenings when the sandman seems to play hide and seek, we also explore the gentle encouragement of natural remedies. With a guiding principle of consulting a pediatrician first, we dissect the potential benefits and considerations of incorporating supplements into your child's sleep routine. The rhythmic predictability of a well-honed bedtime ritual stands as a beacon of hope, poised to guide your child to a restful night's sleep. Through the shared wisdom and experiences in this episode, we aim to arm you with the knowledge and courage to create a peaceful night for both you and your child.
As we navigate the twilight hour, crafting a serene bedtime routine for your child can seem like a distant dream. But what if it didn't have to be? Unravel the complexities of a tranquil nighttime ritual, with a special focus on the unique needs of children on the autism spectrum. Embracing the hush of evening, we discuss tailoring the perfect environment, from soothing stories to the critical power-down of electronics, ensuring your little one drifts into slumber land with ease. Delving into the essentials, such as the importance of consistency and addressing potential sleep disruptors, our conversation offers an arsenal of strategies for parents looking to transform bedtime from a battlefield into a sanctuary of rest.
For those evenings when the sandman seems to play hide and seek, we also explore the gentle encouragement of natural remedies. With a guiding principle of consulting a pediatrician first, we dissect the potential benefits and considerations of incorporating supplements into your child's sleep routine. The rhythmic predictability of a well-honed bedtime ritual stands as a beacon of hope, poised to guide your child to a restful night's sleep. Through the shared wisdom and experiences in this episode, we aim to arm you with the knowledge and courage to create a peaceful night for both you and your child.
Hi everyone. Today we're going to talk about bedtime. I know that dreaded bedtime. Parents have problems, even if their child is not on the spectrum, but I'm sure with children on the spectrum it can be a very difficult time. Either they're not getting enough sleep during the night or they wake up too early, or they're wanting to be in bed with you. So we're going to talk about some things that maybe we can help get them to Sleep and and get a good night's rest, because they need it to, just like the rest of us.
Speaker 1:
If you're going to bed and you just toss and turn and you can't get to sleep, your mind's racing, you think about I need to Do this, I need to do that. You try to shut your mind off. Well, and you can't sleep. So you get up and you toss and turn. Well, that's what happens with our kids that are on the spectrum. Their minds are going all the time, all the time, all the time. They're in fast mode. So what we want to do is try to change that, try to get them to relax, and so what we need to do is set a routine. That routine before they go to bed Should be about 20 to 30 minutes, maybe a little bit less. It just depends on the child. But that routine they'll start to associate Okay, now is sleep time. So their mind and their body will start to relax Once you implement a good routine. So the first thing you want to do is the routine is okay, we're gonna after dinner or whenever you decide they're gonna take a bath, they're gonna brush their teeth, they're gonna put their favorite pajamas on and they're going to be in bed at a certain time. Then, once they're in their bedroom, look at their environment and let's set up the environment. We don't want it too warm in there and doesn't hurt to be a little bit cooler. And then they, if they're warm, they can use their favorite blanket or their favorite Bejamas or whatever that it takes. Now, I talked a little bit about this when I was in another podcast, but this one I'm gonna get a little bit more in-depth on this.
Speaker 1:
So the first thing in their environment, just make sure their bed is comfortable, that it's clean all the time and there's not any distractions in the room to Take their mind off and just to relax. Do not give them like cut off the the technology with the phones or TV, things like that at least 30 40 minutes before they're going to go to bed. They don't need it. That blue like will stimulate them to want to be awake and not want to go into sleep. So they need, with within that 20 30 minutes that you're preparing this routine. They need to be able to relax and not be watching TV before they go to bed or on their iPad, and I know that's hard to do, but it will pay off in the long run. Now, this may not happen the first night or first week, but if you keep building this routine and keep it, it will come. They will rest More, but definitely if what, avoid the blue light with electronics. Try to make sure there's less noise around their room, that they're not being distracted or can hear so much.
Speaker 1:
A good bedtime story is also a good thing that you're reading to them. They they don't need to, you know, do the reading themselves, but you read to them. And one thing I want to kind of stress is also that Don't forget about the older kids. We tend to think it's just for little kids and it's not. We can do it for the older kids too. They like to hear stories. You probably like to hear stories, so they probably like to hear stories, so you can either find a Podcast that tells stories to kids or you can do one yourself or just tell this story there yourself. So it's a good way to build that, that connection with your child, and also to give them time to relax and something for them to look forward to before they go to sleep.
Speaker 1:
Try to avoid also caffeine, and that can be like a tease or coffee or chocolate. They just make sure you check the labels and see if there's caffeine in it and try to get that out of their diet, especially after a certain time of the day. Another thing could be medical too, and they could be having a restless leg syndrome, they could have congestion, they could have heartburn. That that they're experiencing in that or that will prevent them from trying to fall asleep. Because if you feel uncomfortable With one of those, it's hard for your body to try to relax and and go to sleep. So make sure you check that point too and treat that so that they can go peacefully to sleep. Maybe some quiet music or something might help a little bit.
Speaker 1:
Do not try to sleep with your child, because if you start that where you're laying down with them and they're, then they're going to associate you being With sleep, so they're going to associate you want things that they connect with. That will say, okay, you know I'm going to go to sleep, this is my bedtime, this is my routine and that makes that connection with them and that's what they need. They need that connection. If they wake up frequently or wake up early, it's another thing and I know some of the kids wake up super early. All kids, all kids wake up and need to maybe go to the bathroom or something like that, that's okay. But they need to be able to fall back to sleep and some white noise may be another thing. Or they maybe like, if they have a favorite bear or something you put in the room and just tell them okay, if you wake up, you can get your bed, your favorite bear or your toy or whatever, nothing to play with, but like a bear type thing or a stuffed animal or a doll, whatever the case may be, and that you can Hold on to that while you go back to bed and try to go back back to sleep and then, if they Wake up early and then the rest of the family First determine if your child has enough enough sleep to function.
Speaker 1:
So let's say they do wake up early and but they're okay, they're okay for the day, they don't get tired or sleepy. Then you need to look at okay, the rest of the family is not up yet, so you need to stay in bed and you can Listen to your, some music or something like that, or find something that's quiet, play or a task box that you provide them in their room, something that can be at bedtime but at the same time doesn't wake up the nurse or the family, and then set a timer in there. Say, if they are always waking up at 3-4 o'clock in the morning, then set that timer so they have to. They realize they. Okay, we need to rest two more hours. When the timer goes off, then you can get up for the for the day. So that's another avenue that you can do to help your child stay to bed so you can get a good night's rest. Also, maybe it could be a light timer too. When that light goes off, then you can.
Speaker 1:
It's time for you to get up and get ready for the day and had to help them to stay in bed and it gives them a visual clue to stay in their room. And then another thing is chart your child's sleep patterns and what did you do? You did this, this and this and the child is still having difficulty sleeping. And in, give yourself time. Don't think it's going to happen like the first night or two, but give yourself time.
Speaker 1:
Build that routine and how you're going to get that child to relax. Don't have activities that are too busy for that child. Do things that are okay. It's time for us to settle down for the evening. This is what we're going to do and to help them to get their mind kind of calm down, because that's what you want to do. You got to get their brain to kind of just calm down and relax.
Speaker 1:
If you're still having difficulties, I recommend you know talking to your doctor, of course and you probably most of you have and you're probably say, yeah, we've done that, did that, been there but also look at other natural ways to get your child to sleep. I know there's supplements and things out there to help people sleep and I sometimes have trouble myself and I take a natural supplement to help me relax and just get my brain to not be an overdrive. If you've done everything and you've given talk to your like I said to your pediatrician. Then the next thing is to maybe look at some natural to help them. I hope that this is help and I will talk to you guys real soon.
Speaker 1:
I know that it's difficult and it takes time, but if you build that routine and you listen to your child, you know their wants and their needs and then when they wake up, I know that this will help them. It just takes time and, like I said, you have to build that routine so they know what to expect, because you know you and at school, when they're doing working things like that, they still need that routine and they will associate okay, I'm going to school, I need to do classwork. They make that connection. Same thing for bed. They have to make that connection and that's what you need to do is to build a routine in there. And I know it's difficult and I'm just one small voice and I hope that I'm able to give you a little bit of help in some way and maybe it'll work and maybe it won't, but there's, but I think it's worth a good try. Anyway, I hope you have a blessed day and I will talk to you soon. Bye.