What is good sleep?

Good sleep is about getting to sleep, staying asleep and getting enough good-quality sleep. Every child, including neurodivergent children, need enough good-quality sleep to support development. Remember, children need different amounts of sleep and what’s normal for one might well not be normal for another. If your child needs less or more sleep than the average child, respect that. As the brain develops, the amount of sleep needed will vary.

Healthy Sleep Associations

Sleep associations and habits are the things that children need to settle for sleep. When children wake at night, they need the same things to go back to sleep. For neurodivergent children, sleep associations and habits can be very strong. They might include falling asleep next to a parent, while watching TV or after using an electronic device.

If you’d prefer your child to fall asleep by themselves in their own bed, you might want to help your child develop some healthy sleep associations:

  • Positive praise and reassurance
  • Emphasise the benefits of good sleep
  • Sensory-conditioners – sounds, smells, touch, light

Pavlov’s Dogs

In the same way dogs can be conditioned when it’s time to eat, humans can be conditioned when it’s time to sleep. We can condition the brain to respond when:

  • It looks like sleep (lighting)
  • It sounds like sleep (white noise, audiobooks, music)
  • It smells like sleep (relaxing fragrance)
  • It feels like sleep (comforter)
  • It even tastes like sleep (toothpaste!)

It’s not easy, but it does work, when the same routine is followed, with the same sensory stimuli, every night. 

Eating

If your child is a fussy eater it helps to understand why so that you can manage your child’s eating behaviour.​ Some ND children suffer with gastrointestinal problems. So it’s always best to speak with your child’s GP or paediatrician if your child has gastrointestinal symptoms, such as slow weight gain or growth, diarrhoea or tummy pain.​ Once any underlying medical issues are ruled out, then the selective eating might be because your child:​

  • has sensory sensitivities and prefers food with particular textures​
  • likes routines and wants the same food at the same time every day​
  • is more focused on how food looks than how it tastes and wants the food presented in the same way every day​
  • finds it hard to try new experiences, including eating new food​
  • has become preoccupied with a particular type of food

Introduce new foods that are similar to familiar foods​

  • If your child finds change difficult, they may take a while to get comfortable with new foods.​
  • You can help your child to accept new foods by introducing foods that have a similar texture, colour or smell to other foods that you know your child enjoys. 
  • Encourage them to cook with you
  • Visit the supermarket together to look at different food
  • Exploring recipes and preparing meals together
  • Exploring new foods through play – squashing, stacking, smelling…

Keep to a routine​

Offer your child meals and snacks at regular times. This encourages a better appetite at mealtimes. Also, regular meals and snacks sends the message that healthy eating is part of your family’s routine.​

Change how you present food​

Making small changes to the way you present food might encourage your child to try new and more foods over time. For example, you could try:​

  • putting food on a different colour plate​
  • putting a healthy snack in a favourite lunch box

Toileting

Although most young people are toilet-trained, you may find there are difficulties that might be expressed through toileting such as:

  • Smearing
  • Over-wiping leading to soreness 
  • Inability to know when clean/dry
  • bedwetting
  • For great resources please visit Home – ERIC
  • This video is great for younger children who struggle to poo

Neurodevelopmental helpline

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