Sleep

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4 months to 12 months- 12-16 hours.

1 to 2 years- 11-14 hours.

3 to 5 years- 10-13 hours.

6 to 12 years- 9-12 hours.

13 to 18 years- 8-10 hours.

As suggested by American Academy of Paediatrics .Knowing the normal duration helps us to plan for the same and seek help when needed.

1.  Keep the total duration of sleep ( including naps and night sleep ) – around the expected for age duration.

2.  Maintain structure and consistency -in waking and going to bed timings .No later than 9 pm in the night .Discourage afternoon naps after 4 pm.

3.  Daily structure – include activities and exercise.

4.  Bed time routines -brush teeth, bath, change of clothes and bed time story. This help to child to prepare to fall asleep.

5.  Avoid – exercise and screen 1-2 hours, caffeine about 6 hours  before bed. They will stimulate us , rather than help us fall asleep.

6.  Ambient – temperature, sound, light will help in a good night ‘s sleep.Soothing music , dark or dim lit room ,cool room with comfortable blanket and favourite toy  around also helps .

7.  Family – support, positive parenting and motivation helps a lot. Appreciate them but be neutral when things don’t go well.

1. Failure of consistency in routines and parenting – avoid power struggles and conflicts before bedtime.

2. Learnt  behaviour– they learn it is fine to wake up, when there’s no firm parenting and boundaries. 

3. Distractions -Sound , light  , electronics in the room. 

1.  Structure , activities ,awareness of sensory disturbances (sound, light )- as mentioned before 

2.  Use pictures for the bed time routine. When explained with visual supports (pictures ), they understand better and reduces their anxiety.

*You can use coloured photos , line figures , parts of objects to help them understand

3.  Use stories – to teach them expected behaviour. Read it 3-4 times a day. Pre teaching is helpful.

4.  Medical conditions – constipation, cold, tooth pain, allergy could also be disturbing their sleep.

5.  Medications – could also be a cause ( discuss with doctor ).

6.  Older kids- use tokens, they can exchange for rewards next day, if they don’t wake up in the night. Motivate them.

1. Sleep not settling in spite of above measures .

2. Waking up in the night for long time , trouble falling asleep again.

snoring, movements, screaming and excessive sleepiness in the morning.

3. Contact your paediatrician or developmental team for further guidance.

1. Autism speaks sleep toolkit - has visual schedules, story , sleep log 

2. Heathy children.org- sleep