Sleep strategies

Research consistently identifies good sleep as essential for wellbeing. Children who get good sleep have been shown to be less impacted by loneliness. Children with autism commonly experience sleep problems and may benefit from extra support with sleep routines.

Good sleep habits can help create the conditions a child needs to achieve a good sleep.

Sleep strategies include:

Identify a regular bedtime and waking up time, and stick to this each day.
Chocolate bars, some soft drinks, coffee and tea may contain caffeine and so are best avoided after 3pm.
A cool, quiet and relatively dark room is best.
Plan and stick to a calming bedtime routine. For example, dinner, bathtime, quiet play/reading, followed by hopping into bed. AllPlay Learn’s sleep schedule may help with this.
Calm and quiet activities are best in the hour before bedtime. In particular, televisions and devices/computers, or intense exercise are best avoided.
A calm approach and quiet voice at bedtime will help your child settle.

Resources


Sleep stories

Sleep stories and sleep schedules can help children become familiar with bedtime routines and can reduce bedtime resistance. Adding photos from your child's own environment to these resources (e.g. a picture of their own bed) can be especially helpful.

Getting ready for bed story- with images
(PDF, 3MB)
Getting ready for bed story – Add your own images
(PPT, 1MB)

Sleep schedules

 
Sleep schedule – With images
(PDF, 3MB)
Sleep schedule – Add your own images
(PPT, 3MB)
 

Additional resources

Listen to a sleep podcast for some more information on identifying sleeping problems in your children, and easy steps to improve their sleep cycles and overall health.

Download this page as a PDF