Sleep challenges affect 50-80% of autistic children—nearly double the rate of neurotypical children. This is likely due to a combination of biological and neurological differences, autism-specific traits such as difficulty with transitions and sensory differences, and learned patterns of behavior. Sleep directly impacts your child’s attention, behavior regulation, and overall well-being. And when their sleep suffers, so does the whole family. The good news? Below are some practical strategies you can try to help everyone in your family get a more restful night’s sleep! 

Build Consistent Routines that Promote Good Sleep Hygiene 

• Maintain Regular Sleep Schedules: Keep bedtimes and wake times as consistent as possible. It’s tempting to let your child sleep in after a late night or stay up late on a Saturday family fun night. And of course, that’s totally fine now and then! But in general, regular schedules help regulate your child’s natural sleep-wake cycles and create predictable expectations. 

• Create Gradual Transitions: Many children hear “time for bed” as “fun time is over.” Start transitioning away from highly preferred and stimulating activities a while before sleep – at least an hour, if possible. Use WiFi timers to automatically turn off screens, then introduce calming activities like gentle music, dimmed lighting, yoga stretches, puzzles, or quiet reading. 

• Use Familiar Transition Supports: Apply the same strategies that work for other challenging transitions: visual schedules, timers, two-minute warnings, and first-then statements (“First we’ll brush teeth, then story time”). These tools provide structure, can reduce distress, and help make transitions smoother. 

• Create Consistent and Calming Bedtime Routines: When my child was a toddler, every night he took a bath, brushed his teeth, and put on PJs and a sleep sack. Then, we read one book (from a choice of 3, not from his whole library), sang the same 2 lullabies, and turned on the white noise machine. It took about 45 minutes, but it almost always ended with a drowsy kiddo drifting off to sleep in his bed. This sense of routine, calm, and inevitability – these activities strongly signaled a non-negotiable bedtime was coming! – can also help your child ease toward sleepiness as well as understand expectations. 

Address your Child’s Specific Preferences and Needs  

• Consider Sensory Needs: Is your child bothered by scratchy PJs? Does the neighbor’s dog bark when they are out for a late-night walk? Does that creaky step in the hallway bother them? Children with autism have sensory differences and may react more strongly to input or wake more easily in response. Test different pajama fabrics and types of pillows and blankets, use blackout curtains for light sensitivity, or try white noise machines or soft music to mask irritating or unexpected noises. 

• Promote Independent Sleep: While it’s natural to occasionally lie with your child until they fall asleep or bring them to your bed during difficult nights, these practices can become problematic when they become a habit and are required for sleep. Instead, introduce alternatives that can be present all night, every night: try a cozy body pillow instead of a parent or a noise machine instead of an iPad screen.
• Handle Night Wakings Strategically: When your child wakes during the night, minimize access to attention and preferred things. Briefly check basic needs (bathroom, water), provide calm reassurance, then redirect them back to bed using the same conditions that helped them initially fall asleep. Keep interactions brief and unstimulating. 

Recognize When Additional Support Is Needed 

• Address Already Established Patterns: Are you already jumping through hoops with a 2-hour long bedtime routine or letting your child watch an iPad in bed with you until they finally fall asleep? Are you slowly creeping out of their room only to find them standing in the hall crying for you 3 hours later? You’re not alone, so don’t beat yourself up about it! These patterns can be changed gradually. Try to introduce some of these suggestions slowly, such as pairing yourself with a comfort object before gradually reducing your presence or systematically decreasing screen time while increasing calming alternatives. 

• Seek Professional Guidance: For persistent sleep challenges, keep a detailed sleep diary, and consult with your child’s healthcare provider and ABA therapist. Some children benefit from intensive behavioral sleep interventions designed specifically for autism-related sleep disturbances. 

• Connect with Healthcare Providers: Work with your child’s doctors to assess and treat any co-occurring medical or psychiatric conditions that may be impacting sleep. Also, any sleep aids, including over-the-counter supplements like melatonin, should only be used under medical supervision. 

Moving Forward 

Sleep disturbances in autistic children can feel overwhelming, but improvement is possible with consistent implementation of these strategies. Start with one or two approaches, maintain realistic expectations, and remember that establishing new sleep patterns takes time. With the right combination of environmental modifications, routine adjustments, and professional support when needed, your family can move from exhaustion to quality restorative sleep!  

For additional support, check out Stanford Medicine’s Center for Sleep in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Autism Treatment Network’s Parent Guide to Improving Sleep in Children with Autism. And remember that these resources as well as the suggestions in this blog are not individual-specific. Always connect with your child’s healthcare, educational, and behavioral providers.