Bedtime routines and getting enough sleep

In this blog post Cythia shares how she got her foster child from having only three to four hours sleep a night to a full 10 hours. This is an achievement she is understandably proud of.

He used to find it very difficult to rest at night and would have as little as three-four hours’ sleep. The rest of the night he would be keeping everyone up making lots of loud noises in the room, flicking light switches on and off, banging furniture and breaking objects, kicking the door with feet, stamping, and generally being as mischievous as possible.

I read social stories relating to bedtime activities and expectations, took him to the toilet before getting into bed, and I remained consistent in terms of a 9pm cut off time. Every night two biscuits are given to help settle him in.

If he got out of bed, and every time he got out of bed, I would take him back to bed -- several times every night. I did this for several weeks and months until the penny dropped in his mind. I also used classical music in his room so that he could relax more, and now his enjoying a full 10 hours of sleep each night without waking up.

He did not know how to keep still with his hyperactivity disorder and he used to run through both the sitting room and dining room and move in and out of doors asking to be chased. To stop this happening, I put a door between the through lounge and dining room to separate the rooms, so that he could differentiate that the rooms were used for different things.

For example, the dining room is the room for watching the small TV, doing activities, having dinner, interacting, reading, helping with homework and using computers. I then turned the sitting room into a very cosy area. I had lots of soft furry cushions and kept a big bag of sheets in the corner of the room so that he can get one out when we are watching the big screen TV between bathtime and dinner. 

All of this has helped prepare him for getting ready to bed in the evenings.