Sleep is a cornerstone of supporting your child’s physiologic and emotional regulation. 

  • Good “sleep hygiene” typically includes a consistent routine with an adequate number of hours of sleep.
  • Your child getting enough connected time with you during the daytime hours will make it easier for your child to settle for bed at night. 
  • You can signal a ‘wind down’ phase by having low lights, quiet talking, and pre-bedtime activities that are calm to support your child’s transition to bed. 
  • You can create pictures of your nightly activities to review with your child to cement the routine sequence.
  • Kids with very active bodies can wake during the night, and this is often remedied by getting more vigorous movement during the daytime hours. 
  • Some kids’ bodies need extra pressure, such as a weighted blanket, and do well with “squishes” or a massage before lights out.
  • Children with supersonic hearing may be awakened at night by small, low-frequency sounds such as a branch bumping against the house or random creaks, so reducing such sounds and providing ‘white noise’ is often the remedy. 
  • Kids with sensory-sensitive eyes can have a hard time falling asleep due to looking at all the interesting items in their room, and are often prematurely woken by light coming through the window. A neutral, low distraction environment with closet doors closed and a neutral sheet covering toy shelves (or even having toys stored in a different room) will help, as well as blackout curtains.
  • Night terrors and nightmares are typical for 3-7-year-old kids, so comforting and assurance are the key. In the case of nightmares, exploring your child’s worries (anxiety) is important.
  • TV/electronics before bed is often too stimulating. 
  • Shows with aggressive or scary content at any time in the day can lead to nightmares, so content needs adult monitoring.
  • Some older kids with very busy schedules can have difficulty winding down as they simply don’t have time to rest during the day and process all of their feelings about the day’s events. Setting aside ‘chill time’ at least 2xs during the day allows your child to later fall asleep more easily.