Autism Soccer: How to Make Sure your Child is Getting Enough Hours of Sleep

Getting enough hours of sleep is key to make sure they have the necessary energy.

Sleep is one of the main physiological needs for the human body. It’s those precious hours of rest that our body uses to renovate its cells, to recharge, and prepare every part of it to face another day. As a key factor for our overall health, it’s important to make sure kids cultivate sleep as a healthy habit since infancy that will benefit their well-being. However, when you are the caretaker of a child with special needs, it’s important that you monitor their sleeping patterns to help them get the correct amount of rest that will give them the energy to tackle down their day by day with a great mood.

Sleep deprivation is the main concern with these kids as this is one of the things that could affect their daily behavior. It could cause problems with concentration, and sometimes it makes them prone to behavioral distress due to the feeling of exhaustion. For parents and caretakers, these are signs that while not limited to sleep problems, are clear indicators beyond the under eye bags. Kids without proper repose can also face other sets of complications, as being exhausted takes a toll on their bodies. Spending hours without proper rest can lead to hallucinations, aggressiveness, migraine and high blood pressure just to name a few. But there are many things that you can do to ensure they are getting the necessary hours of slumber to maintain their health. First of all, make sure you create a correct environment for them to rest, and you can use the following advice:

Put a nightlight: This will help them feel more safe, as it will avoid the dreaded pitch-dark look of a room in the night. If your child is particularly sensitive to light, you can offer them the option of using a click-on light that they can push if needed throughout the night.

Take out distracting electronics: While in some cases electronic devices need to be present in your child’s room, make sure to take out all unnecessary elements out of the bedroom. Tablets, computers, and videogames can create the incorrect environment for rest.

Keep it clean: Some kids feel stressed and anxious in messy spaces and those emotions could interfere in how they reach the state of relaxation that allows them to sleep. In this sense, you need to keep those areas organized as it will take out that stress factor.

But more than setting the environment, you need to take the extra step into making them realize that their rest time is important and a key element to ensure their health. This might come across as something incredibly hard to process for a child, but I can assure you they will understand why they need to do it and will be more than willing to incorporate rest into their everyday lives if you let them know why they must do it in a more friendly way. Another set of things you can do to help them reach that relaxed state is:

Set a routine: Most of the time, kids like things when they are consistent, and you as a caretaker, should get used to these routines. Create one for sleep-time, like having tea or a warm glass of milk after the night bath. Stick with it as it will resound and work as the starter for the sleeping time.

Relaxing bath : A soak in tempered water and a massage can help your kid feel relaxed before heading off to bed. This helps their body fall into the sleepy state needed to allow a restful night.

Soothe them: Some kids like to listen to relaxing music or do something in particular which makes them feel calm. Make sure to incorporate these soothing elements as part of their pre-sleep habit to help them feel safe and comforted.

Avoid using it as a tool: You can let them know the importance of sleep for their lives, but don’t use it as a tool. Remember kids interpret things due to their associations, so make sure you relate sleep to something relaxing, not to a task or a punishment.

Use transitional objects: As you know, most kids appreciate having a teddy bear or any other toy as a fixed item in their bed routine. These are transitional elements that help them soothe themselves and comprehend that it’s time to go to bed.

Every child will have a different need and behavior when it comes to resting time, and you need to do everything you can to make sure they get the most out of every single hour of sleep they get. Figure out a pattern that works for both of you, stick to it and do everything you need to in order to allow them to recharge their bodies for the next day. This is especially important if they are doing extra physical exercise, like having a soccer game. For this same reason, Autism Soccer encourages kids in their classes to get enough hours of slumber, as it will give them the energy to face every activity throughout the day. Contact them to give your child the opportunity to enjoy soccer with the help of professionals!