7 Reasons Your Kid Autistic Kid Isn’t Sleeping Well

I treat kids on the spectrum every day.  Parents have to understand where their sleep problem(s) are coming from:

1. Many of my older kids are medicated for attention and anxiety.  These drugs either are stimulants or have side effects that are stimulating.  Sleep needs the opposite.  Taking those medications too late in the day or at higher dosages than needed can mean a child is still awake at 11 pm and will need to get up for school at 7 am.  This is a sleep deficit that cannot be made up on the weekend.
2. Bedtime stories and screen use can be far too stimulating for an autistic kid.  Their siblings may be fine.  They are not fine.  Their neurodivergent minds don’t process the same information the same way.  They think differently.  That isn’t always bad, but in this situation, they need to be mindful of what they are putting into their brains at this hour.
3. They often can’t wind down in 30 minutes.  They want to.  They can’t.  Again, neurodivergent brains don’t operate like neurotypical brains.  Different brains, different needs.
4. Any OCD tendencies could mean needing more time to arrange the bedroom so that it isn’t irritating.  Things may need to be in the exact place that a child finds comforting.  Or else.
5. They may live life in a hyperaroused neurological state.  Always “on”.  They can’t shut it off easily, or even much at all.  They sleep when they are exhausted.  Which is poor quality sleep, BTW.
6. They are more sensitive to normal house noises, smells (like dinner), and even their own blankets and sheets.  They might react to their sibling’s shower soap wafting out of the bathroom they share.  Footsteps down the hall.
7. They are seeking sensory input at night.  They love it.  They don’t know this is a bad idea.

What can you do?

I strongly recommend environmental and routine changes rather than relying only on psychological or pharmacological interventions.  And definitely before pharmacological actions.  Let biology be your friend so that you aren’t fighting the child or nature:

• Use lighting and temperature to boost sleep and wakefulness.  Bodies sleep better in cool temps and wake up as the room warms.
• Serve dinner at the same time every night, even on the weekend.  Body clocks synch to these biological routines.
• Make bath time relaxing, not stimulating.   Move it earlier if they can’t stop playing.  Shorten it as well.  And of course, make the timing routine.
• Lengthen wind down periods.  Lower the lights and noises in the whole house, turn the white noise machines on earlier, and let kids know that the whole family wants to sleep better.  Because they do, even if they don’t know it.

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