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Things that can affect your child's sleep

Every child and young person is different and have different needs. There are lots of different things that can affect your child or young person's sleep.

Creating a good sleeping space

It's important to create an environment that's good for sleeping in. Cluttered and overstimulating rooms can be hard for children and young people to relax in.

Some ways you can create a good sleeping environment for your child or young person:

Make sure the room is dark enough. If the room is too bright it can be hard to fall asleep. You can buy blackout curtains or blinds to make the room darker. This can be helpful in summer when it's light for longer.

Make sure the room isn't too dark. Some children and young people are scared of the dark or find it hard to sleep in a very dark room. You can use a small nightlight or leave the door ajar.

Avoid having a TV or computer in the bedroom. It's harder to monitor and restrict TV and computer use if your child or young person has a TV or computer in their bedroom.

Make sure comfort items are close. Cuddling a favourite soft toy or blanket can be relaxing and comforting. Try to keep it close to their bed so they can easily cuddle it at night.

Check the room temperature is not too hot or too cold. It's recommended the best temperature is between 16C to 20C.

Make sure your child has a clean, dry bed with suitable bedding. Bedding includes pillows, a duvet and covers. Allowing your child to choose their own bedding may encourage them to sleep in their own room.

Use a heavy or weighted blanket or a compression sheet. If your child or young person feels comforted by deep pressure exercises or wearing heavy clothes, a heavy or weighted blanket or compression sheet may help.

For weighted blankets, we advise that the maximum weight used must be no more than 10% of your child's body weight.

Your child must be supervised while under the weighted blanket and they must be able to remove the weighted blanket or get free from the weighted blanket themselves to avoid overheating. Weighted blankets are a suffocation risk, keep your child's head and neck uncovered. If the weighted blanket is used at night, we recommend that it doesn't hang over the bed sides and that it's removed when your child or young person is asleep.

Adding a night clock can help children know when it is night time and what is expected of them.

Getting ready for sleep

It's important to set up a bedtime routine for your child or young person. Bedtime can be really stressful for neurodivergent children and young people. A bedtime routine will help them understand what is coming up next. This will help them to relax and be ready for sleep.

For some children and young people, having a visual reminder like a timetable can be helpful. It can help them mentally prepare for the upcoming tasks.

Neurodivergent children are more likely to be over sensitive or under sensitive to their senses. Bedtime routines can be stressful for sensitive children as they involve lots of different senses which can be overwhelming and stressful. It can make some tasks like washing or brushing their teeth harder.

You can find lots of different strategies to try with your child or young person to help them with their bedtime routine.

Helping your child to settle at night

For some children, it can be distressing when a parent leaves whilst they are falling asleep. This is more likely if your child has gotten used to you being with them as they fall asleep. It's also more likely for young children and neurodivergent children. They may not understand why things are changing.

Take things at your child's pace. Some parents have found the 'camping out' method helpful. It encourages children to settle themselves with as little distress as possible.

1. Place a chair or mattress next to your child's bed.

2. Gently and quietly stroke or pat them until they fall asleep, and then leave the room.

3. Once your child starts falling asleep like this, slowly reduce the amount you pat or stroke them. This will usually take around 3 days.

4. Every 3 days, try to reduce the amount you pat or stroke your child. This will help your child to get used to fall asleep without patting or stroking.

5. Once your child is able to fall asleep without patting or stroking. Gradually move your chair or mattress further away towards the door. Do this every 3 days.

6. If your child wakes in the night, try to settle them using the approach that you have been using at bedtime.

7. Try to be quiet and avoid eye contact when it's time for your child to sleep or they won't settle. They may think it's a signal for play-time.

Unfortunately, there is no magic solution to help all children settle at night. Sometimes it may take weeks or even months before your child is able to settle themselves to sleep. Do not to feel bad about it. All children are unique. There are other methods out there to try.

Common sleep issues

There are some sleep issues that are more common in neurodivergent children.

Help for parents

Sometimes it can feel overwhelming, especially when dealing with a lack of sleep. There is help available for you, and it is important to look after the whole family's health as well as the child's.

Sleep deprivation can have a huge effect on everyone's physical and mental health. Here are some useful strategies you can try.

Sharing night-time duties with a partner, family or friend if they can help.

Resting when you can. Try to sleep when your child sleeps if possible.

Eating well, exercising, and looking after your mental health. Strategies such as mindfulness and meditation can help.

Talking to professionals who can help, such as your child's health visitor, school nurse or a GP.

Online sleep workshops

Teenage sleep workshop

Parent sleep awareness workshop

Last reviewed: 27 November, 2024

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Sleep for neurodivergent children and young people

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Discover advice about sleep for neurodivergent children and young people, including things that affect your child's sleep and creating a good sleep space.

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Bedfordshire and Luton Children's Health Hub

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Bedfordshire and Luton Children's Health Hub

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Sleep advice for children of all ages

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Explore useful information and advice on sleep for your baby, child and young person. Learn about the importance of sleep and how much sleep your child needs.

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Calm- meditaiton, sleep and relaxing
https://www.calm.com/

Headspace - for mindfulness, sleep and meditaiton
https://www.headspace.com/

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Calm is the #1 app for sleep and meditation. Join the millions experiencing better sleep, lower stress, and less anxiety.

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Common Sleep Problems in Children - The Sleep Charity

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The most common issues kids have at bedtime: settling, changes in routine, bed wetting, fear/anxiety, sensory Issues, feeling hungry or thirsty, discomfort.

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1)    Joyce Dunbar (2006) Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go To Sleep

2)    Michael Foreman (2007) Dad! I Can’t Sleep, Andersen Press Ltd

3)     Dawn Huebner (2008) What To Do When You Dread Your Bed: A Kid’s Guideto Overcoming Problems with Sleep, Magination Press

4)    Capucine Mazille (2007) How Will I Ever Sleep in This Bed?, Sterling

5)    Jane Simmons (2000), Go To Sleep Daisy, O’Brien Press Ltd

6)    Martin Waddell and Barbara Firth (1988), Can’t You Sleep Little Bear?, Walker Books Practical

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A decent night's sleep will help children to learn more effectively and make them less susceptible to minor ailments,

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Get confidential advice from trained health staff in your area. Start a chat now.

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Teenagers often struggle to wake up easily in the morning. This is not actually due to laziness, but when children become teenagers their sleeping pattern changes to make them want to go to bed later and wake up later. This can make it very difficult to wake up early in the morning.

If you're struggling to wake up in the morning then it's very important you don't go to bed too late and that you set your alarm for reasonable time in the morning and get up at that time seven days per week. If you let yourself sleep in at the weekends, it can encourage your body to go to bed later and wake up later even when you have to go to school.

Some things that can help you get out of bed are:

putting your clock or mobile phone on the other side of the room, so you have to physically get out of bed to turn your alarm off

finding a small reason to get out of bed - like a tasty breakfast, exercise, meditation, writing a mood journal, or listening to your favourite podcast while you get ready.

It's also very important that you get bright light exposure early in the morning to help you feel more awake and alert. Ideally you should open your curtains as soon as you wake up to get some early bright sunshine exposure.

Once you start getting into a routine, you'll start to find that waking up each morning becomes slightly easier.

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Lots of people have problems sleeping sometimes. If you're struggling to get to sleep, check out our tips and advice.

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Even after decades of research, the exact reason why we sleep remains one of the most enduring and intriguing mysteries in health science. To try to get to the bottom of this question, experts analyze how sleep works and what happens when we don't get enough sleep.

Studies demonstrate that sleep is incredibly complex and has effects on virtually all systems of the body. Multiple parts of the brain are involved in the processes of producing hormones and chemicals that regulate sleep and wakefulness.

While there is much that is still to be learned about the intricacies of how sleep works, existing research sheds light on the mechanics of what happens in the brain and body during sleep. This knowledge reveals how sleep is connected to numerous elements of physical, emotional, and mental health and provides insights about how people can get better sleep.

What Happens When You Sleep?

Within a minute after falling asleep, notable changes start to affect both the brain and body. Body temperature drops, brain activity ramps down, and heart rate and respiration slow as well. Not surprisingly, the body's energy expenditure is lower during sleep.

It is important to recognize, though, that what happens during sleep is dynamic. Over the course of one night, you actually progress through multiple sleep cycles, each of which lasts between 70 and 120 minutes and is composed of separate sleep stages. These sleep stages are fundamental to how sleep works.

What Are the Sleep Stages?

There are four stages of sleep divided into two categories. The first three stages fall into the category of non-REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. The fourth stage is REM sleep.

In stage 1, you've just dozed off and started transitioning to stage 2, which involves further slowing of activity in the brain and body. It's much easier to be awoken during these early stages of the sleep cycle.

Stage 3 is the deepest part of NREM sleep. In this stage, your muscles and body relax even more, and brain waves show a clear pattern of slowed activity that is markedly different from waking brain activity. It is believed that deep sleep plays an important role in recuperation of the body as well as effective thinking and memory.

Stage 4 is the only stage of REM sleep. During this time, brain activity picks up significantly, and most of the body - except the eyes and breathing muscles - experience temporary paralysis. Although dreams can happen during any stage, the most intense dreaming takes place during REM sleep.

The REM sleep stage is believed to be essential for the brain, enabling key functions like memory and learning. As the night goes on, it's normal to spend a greater percentage of time in REM sleep with most of it occurring in the second half of the night.

The structure of a person's sleep stages and cycles is known as their sleep architecture. While deep sleep and REM sleep involve more profound changes in activity levels, experts believe that each stage plays a part in a healthy sleep architecture that generates quality sleep.

How Does the Body Regulate Sleep?

The body regulates sleep with two key drivers: sleep-wake homeostasis and the circadian alerting system.

Sleep-wake homeostasis. This technical term describes something most of us know implicitly from experience: the longer you're awake, the more you feel a need to sleep. This is because of the homeostatic sleep drive, the body's self-regulating system in which pressure to sleep builds up based on how long you've been awake. This same drive causes you to sleep longer or more deeply after a period of insufficient sleep.

The circadian alerting system. Part of your body's biological clock, circadian rhythms last roughly 24 hours and play a central role in numerous biological processes, including sleep. Light exposure is the biggest influence on circadian rhythms, encouraging wakefulness during the day and sleepiness at night.

These two factors directly affect how much your body feels a need for sleep, reflecting your biological clock, the time of day, your light exposure, and how long you've been awake.

In addition, a wide range of external factors can influence sleep-wake homeostasis and the circadian alerting system. For example, stress or hunger may disrupt your normal process for sleep regulation. Caffeine intake or exposure to light from electronic devices are other examples of how behavioral choices can alter the body's underlying systems for managing sleep.

These multifaceted processes are managed by several parts of the brain including the hypothalamus, the thalamus, the pineal gland, the basal forebrain, the midbrain, the brain stem, the amygdala, and the cerebral cortex. The fact that so many parts of the brain are involved in wakefulness and sleep, including the sleep stages, is further demonstration of the biological complexity of sleep.

What Chemicals and Hormones Regulate Sleep?

Numerous chemicals and hormones are involved in the mechanics of sleep-wake homeostasis and the circadian alerting system. Shifting between wakefulness and sleep creates changes in thousands of neurons in the brain and a complex signaling system that generates specific reactions in the body.

To date, there is much that is still unknown about the intricate processes that control sleep, but researchers have discovered some substances that appear to be important cogs in the machinery of sleep.

A chemical called adenosine is believed to play a central role in sleep-wake homeostasis. Adenosine builds up when we're awake and appears to increase sleep pressure. Caffeine, on the other hand, suppresses adenosine, which may explain part of how it promotes wakefulness.

Neurotransmitters are chemicals that send signals within the nervous system to activate or deactivate certain cells. Examples of neurotransmitters involved in promoting wakefulness or sleep include GABA, acetylcholine, orexin, and serotonin.

Hormones also play an integral role in signaling and regulating sleep-wake states. Melatonin, which promotes sleep and is naturally produced as light exposure decreases, is one of the best known hormones related to sleep. Other important sleep-related hormones include adrenaline, cortisol, and norepinephrine. Sleep can also affect the production of vital hormones, such as growth hormone as well as leptin and ghrelin that regulate appetite, which may exert influence on sleep-wake homeostasis and circadian rhythms.

The function of these chemicals and hormones may be different in some individuals based on their genetics, which is why certain sleep disorders like sleep apnea may run in families. Environment and lifestyle choices may also influence the chemical and hormonal signaling responsible for sleep.

Why Is Sleep Important?

While even experts haven't reached a consensus explanation for why we sleep, numerous indicators support the view that it serves an essential biological function.

From an evolutionary perspective, the fact that sleep exists in almost all animal species - despite the fact that it creates vulnerability and takes time away from feeding or procreating - is a strong indication that it is fundamental to well-being.

In humans, sleep appears to be critical to both physical and mental development in babies, children, and young adults. In adults, a lack of sleep has been associated with a wide range of negative health consequences including cardiovascular problems, a weakened immune system, higher risk of obesity and type II diabetes, impaired thinking and memory, and mental health problems like depression and anxiety.

These diverse ramifications of sleep deprivation offer strong support to the view that sleep doesn't have just one biological purpose but in fact, through its complexity, is an important contributor to the proper functioning of nearly all of the systems of the body.

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How Sleep Works: Understanding the Science of Sleep

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Even after decades of research, the exact reason why we sleep remains one of the most enduring and intriguing mysteries in health science. To try to get to the bottom of this question, experts analyze how sleep works and what happens when we don't get enough sleep.

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40% of children and adults suffer from sleep difficulties
(The Sleep Charity, 2020)

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Reason why many teenagers regularly do not get enough sleep

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Reason why many teenagers regularly do not get enough sleep

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1) Hormonal time shift- puberty hormones shift the teenager's body clock forward by about one or two ours, making them sleepier one to tow hours later. This nightly 'sleep debt' leads to chronic sleep deprivation.

2) using screen based devices- smart phones and other devices used around bedtime reduce sleep time. Teens who put down their smartphones an hour before bed gain an extra 21 minutes sleep at night, (that's 1 hour and 45 minutes over the school week).

3) Light exposure- In the evening, lights from televisions, mobile phones and computers can prevent adequate production of melatonin, the chemical produced by the brain that is responsible for sleep.

4) Sleep disorders- sleep disorders, such as restless legs syndrome or sleep apnoea, can affect how much sleep teenagers get.

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As the new school term started at the beginning of September, and children's sleep starts to settle into a more regular pattern again, we thought it might helpful to make parents aware of how much sleep their child needs and what time they potentially should go to bed.

It's important to note that the hours are on the chart are a guide and it's more important to focus on sleep quality, not quantity, and establish a good bedtime routine and . Just like adults, some children need more sleep, some need less.

However it's one question that we get asked a lot - how much sleep does my child need? While there is no hard and fast rule, the general guide is toddlers need around 12 hours of sleep a night; children aged three to six - 10-12 hours; seven-12 years olds - 10-11 hours; and teenagers - around eight to nine hours.

This means that a seven year old, who wakes at 7am, should ideally be in bed between 7pm and 9pm. For some a 7pm bedtime may not be realistic, especially if you're a working parent who doesn't get home until 6pm and needs to prepare dinner, check homework and sort bath and bedtimes as well as having some quality family time! However, it's not impossible.

When my son was five, he was upstairs by 7pm ready for quiet time. We spent time reading (that's our quality family time - talking about our day and reading a book before bed) and he was often asleep by 7.30pm. He's now 8 years old and he is more likely to be upstairs for 8pm ready for quiet time, with a bedtime of around 8.30pm. Don't get me wrong, we are not rigid with this. Some days my youngest asks to go to bed earlier, some days it's gone 9pm by time we're getting him to sleep but generally on the whole we stick to this routine (even at weekends) as he tends to wake between 6.45 and 7.30am regardless of what time he goes to bed. Our weekends are when we spend quality family time and also catch up on any homework.

Vicki Dawson of The Children's Sleep Charity said: "Sleep is so important in order to ensure that children can meet their full potential in every aspect of their lives. It can be helpful to have an awareness of roughly how much sleep a child needs but we do need to consider that all children are individuals. A good bedtime is really helpful in order to plan the evening routine and fit in quality family time."

What's interesting is that teachers can tell which pupils are well-rested and ready for the day ahead, and which are not. Also, parents don't seem to realise how sleep deprived their children are during the day and how it affects their behaviour and performance at school.

We surveyed teachers a few years ago and we were shocked to find that nearly a quarter (24%) of the teachers questioned admitted that they had had to resort to letting children who are very tired sleep in a corner of the classroom. For two thirds of teachers (65%) the problem is so serious they consider that the long term progress of their pupils can be affected while nearly half (48%) said lack of sleep made children unruly and badly behaved.

Some kids can function well on less sleep than others. It's not set in stone but advises parents on roughly what sort of sleep patterns children of different ages need - many parents don't actually know. A study we did in 2009 showed that 48% of parents with children under 5 didn't know that a 3 year old needs 12 hours sleep a night, 33% didn't know that 6-12 year olds needs 10 hours sleep and 39% didn't know that teens need 8-9 hours a night.

Sleep and children will always be a hot topic and a serious issue so it's important that schools, public health departments and parents all work together to help combat sleep deprivation in children.

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How Much Sleep Does My Child Need? - The Sleep Charity

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As the new school term started at the beginning of September, and children's sleep starts to settle into a more regular pattern again, we thought it might helpful to make parents aware of how much sleep their child needs and what time they potentially should go to bed.

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* Difficulty waking up in the morning

* Trouble concentrating throughout the day

* Falling asleep in class

*Moody or feeling low or sad

*Lack of enthusiasm

*Reduced sporting performance

* Reduced academic performance

* Increased number of 'sick days' from school because of tiredness

*Truancy

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Feeling relaxed is important in the run up to bedtime for both parent and child. If your child is experiencing difficulties sleeping it can make you both feel anxious. Youngsters often pick up on stress levels so try to create a relaxing and calm environment as bedtime approaches.

Here is some advice that may help:

1. Turn off all screens an hour before bedtime, this includes television, laptops, tablets and mobile phones. Screen activities can be mentally stimulating and also may inhibit the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone that helps us to feel drowsy.

2. Set aside time earlier during the day to allow your child to share any worries with you. It can be helpful to share how their day has been and what is planned for the next day. Make sure to give them your full attention.

3. Dim the lights in the hour before bed to create a relaxing environment and aid the production of melatonin.

4. Fine motor skill activities such as craft activities, model making, jigsaws or colouring pictures can aid relaxation.

5. Massage can help some children to unwind.

6. Classical music can be very soothing and makes good relaxing music to play in the background during the bedtime routine.

7. Mindfulness is being increasingly used and there is evidence to suggest that it can be helpful to promote relaxation and sleep. There are a number of apps and products on the market that may be useful.

8. Encourage your child to concentrate on their breathing. Imagine breathing in a beautiful white light and blowing out any worries or troubles each time they exhale. Breathing exercises are also useful for parents to carry out and are a great exercise to enjoy together.

9. Teach your child to progressively relax the muscles in their body. They can begin my tensing their feet to the count of 5 and then letting them relax. Next tense the calf muscles and relax, moving up to the thighs and so on until they have relaxed each part of their body. This is another good activity to try together.

10. End the day on a positive note by sharing 5 great things that have happened during the day.

If you are concerned about your child's anxiety levels discuss with your GP or a healthcare professional, some children may require specialist support.

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Youngsters often pick up on stress levels so try to create a relaxing and calm environment as bedtime approaches.

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Below is a list of foods that may aid sleep, there still needs to be much more research in this area but many families share that they find this list helpful:

Almonds contain magnesium promotes both sleep and muscle relaxation. They also help to keep blood sugar levels stable overnight.

Bananas are an excellent source of magnesium and potassium. They also contain tryptophan an amino acid that helps us to sleep but don't forget fruit contains sugar too. Blend one banana with one cup of milk or soya milk to make an ideal bedtime drink.

Dairy, yogurt, milk and cheese contain tryptophan helping us to nod off more easily. Calcium is effective in stress reduction and it's not true . . cheese doesn't give you nightmares!

Cherries particularly tart cherries have been found in one small study to naturally boost melatonin production. You could try drinking a glass of cherry juice (available at most natural foods stores) or a serving of fresh, frozen or dried cherries before bedtime.

Cereal not only is it a healthy snack, but it may also help you snooze. Complex carbohydrate-rich foods increase the availability of tryptophan in the bloodstream. Avoid sugar-coated cereals though, these will give your child a sugar rush and wake them up.

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Almonds contain magnesium promotes both sleep and muscle relaxation. They also help to keep blood sugar levels stable overnight. Bananas are an excellent source of magnesium and potassium. They also contain tryptophan an amino acid that helps us to sleep but don't forget fruit contains sugar too.

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Do the same thing at the same time each day, including having a set wake up time each morning. We know this is difficult at the weekend, but it is important to have these set times to support your child's body clock.

Turn off all screens at the start of the routine. They may suppress the body's production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, and make it more difficult to nod off.

Consider whether having a light supper time snack in the routine would be helpful - we have an advice sheet all about sleepy food.

Dim the lights in the hour before bed to encourage the production of melatonin, this will help to promote that sleepy feeling.

Younger children may enjoy a bedtime box, filled with a selection of activities to carry out during the routine. Hand eye co-ordination activities such as jigsaws, colouring and threading are great for promoting relaxation. Older children may prefer to read, play a board game or take part in a craft activity.

A bath 30 minutes before bed can help to promote sleep, the decrease in body temperature after a bath can help us to nod off more easily.

Once in bed sharing a story is a great way to end the day or older children may prefer to read independently.

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A bedtime routine is important in getting a good night's sleep. A routine helps to support children's body clocks and aid relaxation.

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The bedroom environment plays an important role in getting a good night's sleep. There is a lot to consider including temperature, light and comfort. Here are some tips to help you to make sure that your child's bedroom supports a restful night's sleep:

1. Decorate in neutral colours, bright colours can be over stimulating.

2. If the room is too hot or too cold it can disturb sleep, around 18 degrees is ideal, you may find it helpful to invest in a room thermometer.

3. Make the bedroom a gadget free zone. If possible, keep TVs, gaming devices, tablets and phones out of the bedroom. Using them before may suppress the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, and make it more difficult to nod off.

4. White noise can mask out background noise and may be useful.

5. For younger children put away toys or cover them with sheets at nighttime so that they don't provide a distraction. For older children try to discourage them from doing schoolwork on their bed and pack away school books at bedtime.

6. A dark environment can help with melatonin production making us feel drowsy at the start of the night. Blackout blinds can also help in the summer months to avoid early waking.

7. Some youngsters (and adults!) prefer a little light in the room at nighttime. If a dark room is distressing or disorientating, try using a soft glowing night light that can be safely left on all night. Those with visual/hearing impairments for example can find total darkness disorientating.

8. Consistent conditions throughout the night are important. Avoid using products that switch off during the night or turning landing lights off when you go to bed.

9. Comfort is important, we all have different needs when it comes to what we prefer and what suits our bodies. The firmness of the mattress and pillows, the texture of the bedding and nightclothes are all important considerations when planning our sleep environments, especially for those youngsters with sensory needs. For more information on mattresses for children visit NBF's Bed Advice UK.

10. Never use the bedroom or an early bedtime as a sanction for children, sleep should be promoted positively.

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The bedroom environment plays an important role in getting a good night's sleep. There is a lot to consider including temperature, light and comfort. Here are some tips to help you to make sure that your child's bedroom supports a restful night's sleep: Decorate in neutral colours, bright colours can be over stimulating.

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Night terrors and nightmares are often confused as the same thing but the two are completely different.

Nightmares are unpleasant dreams, occurring in dream sleep (REM), that are remembered upon waking. A night terror takes place during non-REM sleep and involves feelings of fear, screaming, thrashing around and sweating while still asleep, and won't be remembered the next day. More information on night terrors can be found here.

Nightmares are more common than terrors but neither cause any psychological harm to your child.

Here are our tips on telling them apart and how to handle them:

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Night Terrors and Nightmares - The Sleep Charity

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Night terrors and nightmares are often confused as the same thing but the two are completely different. Nightmares are more common than terrors.

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Anxiety Bullying Diet and Exercise Low Mood and Feeling Sad Mindfulness Self-Harm Sleep Tics and Tourette's Videos Many children will experience difficulties with sleep, nightmares and/or night terrors. Most children will grow out of them and they will not cause

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Children and young  people with additional needs

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Children and young  people with additional needs

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Sleep difficulties in children with additional needs (ENGLISH Audio)

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Sleep Difficulties

Sometimes sleep is more difficult. There are many things that get in the way of a good night sleep for children. It could be;

Life changes and / or worries about things happening in their lives

Bad dreams and night time fears

Not having a regular bedtime and getting up time

Being ‘over-stimulated’ before bedtime by some foods or drinks, screen time or social media

The room being too hot, too cold, too light / too dark.

There are things you can do to help your child get enough rest, this is called sleep hygiene.

https://media.gosh.nhs.uk/documents/Sleep_hygiene_F1851_FINAL_Jun20.pdf

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Looking for advice on how to sleep better? Tweak your routine and understand the science behind your sleep patterns.

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Getting enough sleep is important for your physical and emotional wellbeing. Getting the right sleep will:

·         Improve your ability to concentrate, listen, learn and solve problems.

·         Reduce irritability

·         Allow the body to rest and repair

·         Reduce stress hormones and is good for emotional and mental health.

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Looking for advice on how to sleep better? Tweak your routine and understand the science behind your sleep patterns.

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Discover sleep advice, resources and support for children and young people with additional needs in Bedfordshire and Luton.

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A decent night's sleep will help children to learn more effectively and make them less susceptible to minor ailments,

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The sleep diary is a daily log to record your sleep-wake pattern. It aims to measure the pattern and quality of your sleep, and factors...