4 Things That Throw off Sleep During Summer
Sleep disturbances are very common in autistic children, and can significantly impact their overall well-being and daily functioning. This is especially true during the summer season. Summertime can disrupt sleep patterns, and exacerbate existing challenges. If your child has been struggling the last few weeks, there are 4 things that you want to be mindful […]
Your Holiday Handbook – Keeping Sleep on Track
So, we can tick Halloween and the time change off our checklist. Good work! And now, it’s time to add the craziness of the holidays: It’s exhausting just listing those things! Here are my top recommendations to THRIVE during the holidays and make sure that your family is still getting a good night’s rest: Write […]
Yes, Your Child Can Sleep on their Own
Day in and day out, I speak with special needs families about their child’s sleep struggles. These kids can’t fall asleep quickly, stay asleep, will be up for hours at night, wake super early in the morning, go more than 24 hours without sleep…and more. Often, parents are told that there’s nothing they can do […]
Top 3 Things I’ve Learned about Autism and Sleep
In the world of special needs, I find that there’s a huge focus on sleep and kids with autism (ASD). And, it makes sense! Depending on what journal, study, or blog article you’re reading, poor sleep affects anywhere between 40–80% of kids on the spectrum. That’s a whole lot of kids who don’t sleep well. […]
Mouth Breathing and Your Child with Special Needs
For a child with special needs, uncongested, regular, breathing is key for good health, sleep, language, and more! Very often, unfortunately, this is not the case for these kids. Making sure that your child is breathing through the nose is important for a number of reason: Helps fight infection Reduces allergic response by filtering possible […]
Sleep Struggles: Your Child with Trisomy 21
Many children with special needs have difficult sleeping well through the night. For a child with Trisomy 21, it is not uncommon for them to deal with a number of issues nightly: Difficulty falling asleep (takes a long time) Restlessness, lots of tossing and turning Wakes up frequently at night Needs help falling asleep Light […]
EMF and Their Affect On Sleep
This past month or so has been a month filled with changes, including moving to a new house and traveling to a time zone 10 hours ahead of my local time. This has lead me to contemplate on something that I feel could be affecting your sleep more than you think: EMFs (electromagnetic fields). Let […]
The 3 Things for Increased Brain Power!
Each day, I receive Google Alerts about all the new and exciting things that are happening in the sleep research field. This study really stuck out to me not only as a sleep specialist, but also as a child brain developmentalist. A recent study was done by Lancet Child and Adolescent Health tracking the cognitive […]
3 Things Sleep Training Doesn’t Do
When parents come home from the hospital with their new baby, all of the preparing they have done gets put in place immediately. Without any practice runs. And, no matter what parents have read or bought I think there’s an overwhelming feeling of “I have no idea what I’m doing!” Now, you have to keep […]
Why Sleep Regressions Aren’t a Bad Thing
Nothing strikes fear in the heart of parents more than a sleep regression. No, I’m kidding, but it’s no fun to deal with for sure. Baby wakes up more, spends longer stretches awake (read: up to several hours), and often it keeps parents up more than they really want to be. They often happen around […]
