Sensory at Bed Time

Ironically, today I talk about sleep when last night I didn’t sleep much. We had a change in our night time routine last night (I wasn’t home to put them to bed), and it threw them off all night.

Getting your child to sleep through the night when they are a sensory child can be very challenging. My son didn’t sleep through the night until he was four, and sometimes he still wakes up in the middle of the night. Last night, when he woke up almost every hour, is extremely rare now, but did happen often when he was younger. It happened so often that we hired a sleep consultant. We were desperate for sleep. She helped him sleep better, but we still struggled with sleeping through the entire night.

Things didn’t change until we worked with our Occupational Therapist to create a sensory bedroom environment. Here are a few things we did to help with bed time.

1.      Create a bedtime routine- change for us creates anxiety. My children are calm and relaxed when they know what to expect next. Our bed time routine includes bathing, blow drying hair, brushing teeth, brushing body, read  a short story, family devotional, prayer time, and night time kisses

2.      Therapressure brush- brushing my children or giving them a deep pressure massage helps them relax before bedtime. If I give them a deep pressure massage, I do it with lavender scented lotion.
 
3.       Cloud B Twilight Turtle Tunes (Lighted white noise machine)- gives warm lighting and calming music to help child fall asleep

4.      Cloud B Lady Bug Plush Pillow- looks like a large stuff animal. It gives off calming lavender fragrance.

5.      Weighted blanket- gives child deep pressure throughout the night to help them relax. We got our weighted blanket through sensory goods.

Having a routine is huge for us, along with these key things: deep pressure, calm noise throughout the night, warm lighting and lavender. I hope these suggestions will help you and your child sleep tight throughout the night too! Sweet dreams!