There are many reasons why a child may be awake during the night. Firstly it is important to understand that everyone wakes during the night as part of their normal sleep cycle (see info sheet on Biology of Sleep). The difference is, while most of us don’t recal these episodes in the morning (and if we do then we can normally fall back to sleep with little difficulty), some wake and find it difficult to get back off again. It can sometimes be difficult for parents and the individual to know why this is this case, but there are different pointers that can be used to try and help with this and many factors to consider:

• If a child is used to falling asleep with someone present when they are initially put to bed then when they wake up during the night, they may find it harder to get to sleep by themselves during the night as they are used to that contact to help them. To deal with this issue, please refer to our information document entitled "Encouraging children to sleep alone." Which method you try may depend on age, development and condition. Our Sleep Service can help you decide the best method to use.
• There may be medical conditions such as reflux, pain, cramp, spasms or restless leg sydrome that may make it difficult to sleep, so always consider these factors before deciding the best way to tackle it. Please speak to the child’s GP if you think one of these might be a factor.
• Sometimes relaxing music might help to get a child to sleep (or whatever works for the child, e.g. story tape) but only if the child can learn to put this on theirself so that it doesn’t require a parent/ carer to go into the room.
• Reward charts can sometimes help if the child has the understanding that if they stay in bed all night then they can receive a reward/ sticker/ smiley face.
• Some children with Autism like to have pressure applied, in the form of weighted blankets (or sometimes a sleeping bag can help a bit), although some can be the opposite of this and prefer no bedding.
• If the child gets out of bed to find a parent/ carer/ sibling, or to play with toys, take the child back to bed with as little interaction as possible (verbal or non-verbal) so that the child learns to realise it is a time for sleeping and nothing else.
• Try not to use too much intervention during the night, e.g. taking to the toilet, giving a drink/ food, taking downstairs etc. The child may learn to expect this each time he/ she wakes.
• As mentioned above, a person does wake naturally during the night; this can be referred to as "partial waking". If a parent immediately goes in to a child when they hear them stirring, this may then awaken the child fully which might make it harder for them to go back to sleep.
• Scheduled waking is a technique that can be used to try and break a habit of waking. Use a diary to record what times night wakings usually occur. If they seem to occur every night at the same time, then wake the child up 30mins before this time and then let them go back to sleep (don’t wake them fully, just enough so that they open their eyes). Do this every night, until they are sleeping right through after you have woken them, and then try a night of not waking to see if they stay asleep.
• Ensure that the child is not having too much sleep during the day, going to bed too early, or sleeping in. Keep a diary to see how much sleep your child is getting. A three year old is normally on about 12 hours, a 6 year old needs about 10, and a teenager has normally 8-10 hours (although this can vary from person to person).

Whatever strategy you try, please remember that it is important to try one that you feel comfortable with sticking to, so that you are more likely to succeed in making changes.

Medication is rarely successful. Melatonin (a sleep hormone) is sometimes prescribed to help children fall asleep with varying effects, but it doesn’t usually help with night waking.