The importance of sleep

Mel Wood talks about her daughter’s night-waking and how finding a non-medicinal sleep aid has helped her get a better night’s sleep.

Ever since my youngest daughter’s frequent night-waking left me exhausted I have been passionate about helping parents who are looking for a non-medicinal sleep aid to help their child get a better night’s sleep.

Sleeping problems

We spend approximately a third of our lives asleep and it is widely accepted that most people need around 8 hours sleep a night to function properly although some need more and some need less. For children, the amount of sleep needed ranges from 11.5 hours during the day (with 2.5 at night) to 8.5 hours for a sixteen-year-old. However, for up to 80% of children with a disability, achieving this amount of sleep is simply not possible due to any variety of reasons linked to their disability.

A child with sleep problems within the home can affect the whole family. From parents of young children and siblings to children with elderly grandparents who may be living with them the ripple effect can reach all members of the family. For the child struggling to sleep, the lack of sleep can leave them feeling irritable and frustrated and struggling to concentrate at school due to tiredness. Siblings can also find it hard to perform at school as their sleep can often be disrupted by their parents trying to settle their brother or sister.

Establishing a routine

One of the first steps is to consider if your child has a regular bedtime routine that is the same each night as well as a regular time when they go to bed and wake up? Children like structure and, although they may resist this at first, if you are consistent, they will soon learn to accept the structure you impose. A routine can include:

• Make the last 30 minutes before sleep a regular routine that happens each night and ensure that you direct the routine

• Most children need a wind down period of relaxing activities to help them transition to sleep – include activities such as a bath, getting dressed into nightwear and stories (avoid television / computers during this time)

• Keep the order and timing the same each night

• Avoid extending the routine (e.g. for ‘one more story’)

• You may wish to make a visual schedule for bedtime

• It is helpful for you to try to structure the bedtime/waking time to occur at regular times each day.

Try to stick to this as much as possible avoiding too big a change at weekends. Consider putting together a sleep diary to determine roughly how much sleep your child should need (e.g. 10 hours). Determine the time that your child needs to be up in the morning (e.g. 7am) and work backwards to determine the bedtime (e.g. 7am, minus 10 hours is 9pm).

Keep it consistent

In order to sleep well it really helps a child if the conditions remain consistent throughout the night and it is worth considering if anything is changing from when a child falls asleep to when they wake. Common things that can cause a child to wake up can include falling asleep watching television and then this being turned off. Or falling asleep with a parent next to them, only to wake during the night and find that they are alone. Try to create consistency at the start of the night that can be maintained throughout the night to support a good night’s sleep.

For parents and carers that require additional intervention and support there are many options available including therapy, counselling and various non-medicinal and medicinal solutions along with organisations such as sleepcouncil.org.uk, thesleepgeek.co.uk, and thesleepgeek.co.uk.

FidgetbumTM – a soothing, non-medicinal sleep aid which is available in a range of sizes. A stretchy wrap-around device that snugly holds the covers in place, without restricting the person in bed, it also provides a sense of security that sleep experts have likened to a warm hug and can be used from toddlers to the elderly.

Elliot’s story

FidgetbumTM is helping people of all ages across the UK who have previously struggled with their sleep such as 13-year-old Elliott from Oxfordshire. Elliott has Kernicterus, a condition which has symptoms similar to athetoid CP but also affects Elliott’s hearing, speech and eye movement and can cause muscle spasms that can cause arching of the back and neck. Another side effect is difficulty in getting to sleep and general restlessness during the night.

Over the years, Elliott’s parents Peter and Caroline have struggled with helping Elliott to sleep as his mother Caroline explains. “We have always avoided any medication but have tried various other solutions to help Elliott sleep such as pegging his duvet to the bed to stop him kicking it off, but nothing seemed to work”. However, from the first night of using FidgetbumTM Elliott slept better. With the FidgetbumTM secured over Elliott’s duvet he no longer kicks his duvet off resulting in a better night’s sleep and not feeling as tired the following day.

I am so grateful to Mel for coming up with such a simple but effective idea and I would not hesitate in recommending it to anyone of any age with sleep issues. I have already shown it to Elliott’s Occupational Therapist so she can tell her other clients about it”.

Elliott also loves his FidgetbumTM “I find it really comfortable to sleep with and it is just tight enough to hold my duvet in place but not too tightly. I also really like the material”

For more information on the full range of products available from FidgetbumTM call 020 3714 4497, email mel@fidgetbum.com or visit fidgetbum.com and twitter @fidgetbumsleep