When children aren’t getting enough sleep, it can affect behaviour, learning, and participation in daily activities and routines. This then has an impact on the whole family. Sleep disturbance can result in loss of sleep for the whole household.
It’s easy to understand how families may fall into bad habits or routines, desperate to get a good night’s rest. When awoken in the middle of the night, night after night, the easiest solution is the one that results in a rapid return to sleep. This could mean offering a snack or toys, or allowing the child to crawl into bed with mom and dad. Quite often, this just leads to continued disruption in the long-term. Once established, these patterns can be quite difficult to break. However, if you are ready to make the change, Reach Children’s Services can help. This service is appropriate for families looking to:
- Establish effective bedtime routines to their child get to sleep
- Reduce sleep disturbances and keep their child in bed
- Move a child into their own room/bed
Whatever your goal, we will work together with you to devise a plan that suits your family. The process usually begins with a brief phone consultation, during which our Behaviour Analyst will try to understand what you hope to accomplish. She may then request that you chart sleep patterns for a period prior to the consultation. We will then schedule the 1 ½ -2 hour consultation to more clearly define the needs and review any requested logs. Finally, the therapist and will discuss some initial recommendations and agree to a plan of follow-up.
When working on improving sleep habits, know that it often requires many nights of hard work and little rest before results are seen, so it can be helpful to begin the programme during holiday periods.
For more information, please contact us.