Written by Jade Zammit
Adopting a child with ADHD can be absolutely joyous. However, there are often challenges when it comes to sleep, as it’s often overlooked when it comes to ADHD. It’s a 24/7 disorder, and a child’s brain doesn’t stop when it is time to sleep.
But the good news is, there are lots of holistic tools and approaches that you can embed to support them! I’m Jade, an infant and child sleep consultant and ADHD sleep awareness practitioner, and these are my tips to help you support your child to a better night’s sleep.
Structure around evenings.
I often recommend separating the evening routine from the bedtime routine. Adopting new practices at this time can help when it is time to sleep.
For example:
- Evening walks after dinner or proprioceptive exercises can be great for their nervous system regulation. Plus, fresh air helps sleep, too!
- Reducing screen times. This often goes without saying, but depending on the age and stage of the child (social media/video game influence), these could be having a bigger impact on the evenings and nights.
- Journaling can be a great tool for children who feel more anxious or struggle to wind down at bedtime due to busy thoughts. Getting those all out way ahead of bedtime can help that rewiring during their wind down for sleep.
- To-do lists – helps for those moments when they are in bed and suddenly need to “still do that thing”. Embed it into the evening routine, and they get a dopamine hit from ticking off the list!
The Bedtime Routine
Predictability and consistency are both key here. Consistency is important, as if things are too fluid, many kids will want to deviate from the normal routine. Here are some tips to support this.
- Routine charts – this helps keep everyone accountable (us as caregivers, too!) to keep things steady and consistent.
- Sensory input is important, and all children are different when it comes to sound, light and sensory needs. Find out what your child’s preferences are here. If using a night light, I recommend a red/amber tone as blue and white lights can alter their melatonin production.
- Other tools could include belly breathing meditation techniques! I highly recommend listening to the “Your Floating Bed” podcast on Spotify.
Support for Children with ADHD: Sleep Pressure
Many ADHD children are time-sensitive, which means weekend lie-ins may make it difficult for them to sleep on a Sunday evening before they need to get up for school on Monday. To alleviate this, try to keep wake timings within a 20-minute window.
Many children with ADHD suffer from delayed sleep phase disorder. This affects their time when they fall asleep, which is outside the societal norms (early bedtime and early wake for school). One of the best things you can do here if push bedtime out to help rewire their feeling that “sleep is hard” before bringing it earlier again.
Look at External Factors
Like adults, there are often external factors which influence children’s sleep. For example, social dynamics, new anxieties, change in diet or medications. If there are other factors at play, this could be impacting your child’s ability to wind down in the evening.
Keep a good diet, and if sleep changes have happened since changing medication, then it’s a good idea to speak to their GP to review this.
Also, try to dive deep with your child. What else is going on? Having those conversations around sleep is really important, but so is their day-to-day lives and habits, as changes in these can affect their ability to switch off at night.
Manage Expectations
Progress may be gradual, and often is! Some kids will take to new tools (new eye masks, weighted blankets etc) well, as it brings them that shiny object dopamine hit. But when it comes to anxieties and building up their confidence, this will take a bit longer. Make your changes gradually rather than feeling you can just get straight out of the room. Give them small snippets of independence before building this up.
It may also be that you are noticing the lack of sleep is impacting their focus, emotions and irrational behaviours even more. They might be feeling this too. Communication around sleep can be key for you all to unlock what tools or changes you can put in place.
We want to create a safe space for our children to help them thrive. A place where they can be open and honest in their challenges and be given full support. Bring these conversations earlier in the evening, which allows you space to build their confidence at bedtime with positive encouragement in their own safe place.
To find out how Beyond the Stars can help to support your sleep journey, visit their website or follow on Instagram.
Head to the parenting section to read more articles about sleep and other issues that may affect your family.
