Maintaining Sleep Routines to Maintain Our Health

Many mental health disorders can be comorbid with sleep disturbances or irregularities, including ADHD, anxiety, and ASD to name a few. These sleep disturbances include insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, and having a hard time staying asleep (Reed et al., 2009). Our bodies are like batteries that need charging, and sleep provides our bodies with the rest and energy that they need to fuel us for the day. When we do not get enough sleep, our bodies are not able to function at their full capacity. 

External factors can also impact our sleep patterns including screen time, excess sugar, and changes to routine. Especially in this new world of virtual options for school and work, there can be an unavoidable excess screen time (Medalie, 2020). This elevated stress increases our bodies’ arousal system and can keep us awake at night. 

Even though most of us have varying daily routines, especially school-aged children, we should do our best to maintain consistency for children with bedtimes and wake times. Maintaining this consistency will positively impact children’s overall health and help with the transitions between online and in-person schooling. In this blog, we are going to share some tips for regaining your child’s sleep routine, despite many of these disruptive factors.

Helpful tips and strategies for good sleep hygiene:

1. Create a positive bedtime routine
   a. Giving your child enough time to get ready for bed is important for maintaining good sleep habits. Providing 30 minutes before bed to begin your child’s routine is an appropriate amount of time, as it allows them to settle into the routine more easily. Establishing and maintaining a routine also helps children to know when bedtime can be expected and what positive behaviors are expected during this time (Lamm, n.d.).
   *For more information on positive bedtime routines, please see our “Behavioral Treatments for Sleep Disturbances in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders” blog 
2. Set an expected wake time
   a. Setting an expected wake time is just as important as setting a bedtime routine. This ensures children get the proper amount of sleep each night.  Additionally, it allows parents to develop an expected process for their wake and morning routines.
3. Screen time
   a. Limiting screen time before bed is essential for proper sleep. It is best to end screen related activities 30 minutes before bedtime. Instead, it can be replaced with other quiet activities like reading a book or sharing stories from your days.
4. Thermal comfort
   a. Creating a cool and calm environment for sleep helps us to both fall asleep and stay asleep. Our bodies have an easier time relaxing when they are not working hard to warm up or cool down. Setting the thermostat to a comfortable temperature allows the body to maintain comfort during sleep. This temperature is somewhere between 60-67 degrees fahrenheit (Drerup, 2018). Fans can also help to provide both a cool sleeping space and consistent background noise.
5. Avoid eating a meal or drinking caffeine too close to bedtime
   a. Food is the fuel that keeps our bodies going during the day. When we give ourselves fuel too close to bedtime, it is difficult for our bodies to wind down in time to go to sleep. A small snack and a glass of water is appropriate around bedtime if needed.
6. Exercise and engagement in hobbies throughout the day
   a. Exercise and physical activity helps our bodies to burn our internal energy and sleep more deeply. Exercise also helps to rest our minds, since engaging in healthy coping strategies during the day is a helpful outlet for releasing our everyday stress. It is recommended to fit in at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day to maintain a healthy lifestyle and get a better night’s sleep. 

Maintaining a healthy sleep schedule is essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Using these strategies to promote a better night’s sleep for yourself and your children will help to make the transition to new routines more seamless and less stressful.

Resources

Drerup, M. (2018, November 8). What Is the Ideal Sleeping Temperature for My Bedroom? Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-is-the-ideal-sleeping-temperature-for-my-bedroom/

Lamm, C. (n.d.). Sleep. Autism Speaks. Retrieved April 6, 2020, from https://www.autismspeaks.org/sleep

Medalie, L. (2020, March 30). How does anxiety about the coronavirus affect our sleep? https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/advice-for-sleeping-well-during-the-covid-19-outbreak

Reed, H. E., McGrew, S. G., Artibee, K., Surdkya, K., Goldman, S. E., Frank, K., Wang, L., & Malow, B. A. (2009). Parent-Based Sleep Education Workshops in Autism. Journal of Child Neurology, 24(8), 936–945. https://doi.org/10.1177/0883073808331348