Sleep is when we give our brains a break from being awake and we rest our bodies.
Getting enough sleep is really important for our physical and mental health.
The amount of sleep we need depends on our age. Usually the younger we are the more we need.
When we don't get enough sleep it can make us moody, tired and less clever at doing things.
If we usually don't get enough sleep we can get ill.
When we have a healthy sleep pattern we can cope better with the 'ups and downs' of life. This means that when things are bad we feel better sooner.
We tend to sleep better if we have a good bedtime routine. This means having quiet and calm time before going to bed.
Sleep Routine
A healthy sleep routine is:
going to bed at the same time each night
falling asleep quickly
getting the right amount of sleep
waking up feeling good
Our bodies and brains need lots of sleep to work properly. When we have a healthy sleep routine we can cope better with the day. We are better at solving problems, talking to people and we get less annoyed when things don't go right.
We sleep better if we try to get to bed at usually the same time each day. This is because the body make us sleepy at the same time each day.
We usually fall asleep better if we have calm time for an hour before going to bed. Having a bath or shower, reading or listening to music are things that can help you to get ready for sleeping.
A good sleep routine is good for our health. Trying to keep to our bedtime routine every night is best. But it is also OK if we sometimes change our routine because of family events and other special days.
Use the above examples to help you create your own social story matched to your child's needs. You may want to modify some of the language for very young children but try to avoid losing precise meaning when using more accessible language. Creating social stories with photos or picture can often help too. These example are available in a printable PDF format below.
Sleep
A print out version of the Sleep social story example above.
Sleep Routine
A print out version of the Sleep Routine social story example above.
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