Any Sleeping Tips For Kids With Sensory Modulation Issues?

by Cheryl
(Pittsburgh, PA)

Any suggestions for helping a 5 year old boy who has mild to moderate sensory modulation issues (hypersensitive to auditory and visual stimuli) with developing better sleeping patterns and the ability to sleep through the night?

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some sleeping tips
by: OT Mom

Hi there,
Every child with sensory modulation issues is different, and responds well to different tactics. You will need to experiment to see which ones/which combinations work best for your child, and try them out for at least a few nights before giving up/trying new ones. Your child is old enough for you to discuss it and try things out together. Having some control over it often helps your child to feel more secure.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but for a child like yours with auditory and visual issues, try the following:

Visual: some kids need complete darkness to fall asleep and stay asleep - then you would need to invest in black-out linings for the window, and make sure there are no flashing lights in the room (eg alarm clocks, computer lights, alarm sensors etc)

Other kids with visual sensory issues may sleep better with a very dim night light - experiment with different positions in the room to see if that affects the brightness your child experiences. Some kids who find lava lamps and those moving scene night-lights soothing - you would need to experiment.

Auditory: complete silence at night is very hard to achieve, so many people with auditory sensory issues make use of background noise to help the brain drown out night noises. For some, classical music may help (eg Baby Bach) or white noise (you can download these or use a white noise machine - listen to them with your son to see what he finds the most soothing). My SPD husband uses white noise most nights, and my SPD son uses them on nights when there is a strong wind or storm. other ideas are a radio set on static, or the sound of running water (unless you have a bed-wetter :-) )

I hope this helps. Anyone have any other tips?
night time sleep help
by: Anonymous

Use a fan--I use a cool mist humidifier without the tank of water. Makes a lot of noise without a lot of air movement.

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