Morning and Evening Strategies

Morning Routines

  • Think about doing the same routine everyday (even on weekends) to help mornings run as smoothly as possible. Get the children prepared by helping them select clothing, make lunches and organize the backpack the night before.
  • Find out what energizes your family. Here are a few ideas for our different senses:
    • Calming or alerting music
    • Calming or alerting movement activities
    • Opening curtains and turning on lights
    • Drinking cold water or juice
    • Having a well balanced breakfast

Bedtime Routines

Bedtime doesn’t have to be stressful and a calming routine might need to be started in anticipation of sleep. It is strongly suggested that children turn off screens one hour prior to sleep. These stimulating activities often have long lasting, energizing results that are counter-productive to the goal of a good night sleep.

Deep Pressure

  • Roll the child into a blanket to provide pressure, ensure child can remove blanket and keep face exposed
  • Snuggle close while reading and gently, but steadily, provide pressure. (Light touch tends to have stimulating results, i.e., a tickling effect.)
  • Consider purchasing or making a weighted blanket or “body sock”. Ask an occupational or physical therapist for recommendations.
  • Snuggle in a beanbag chair.
  • Give the child a calming massage.
  • Body pillows on each side of the child can be comforting.
  • With the child in bed, tuck the sheets to provide gentle pressure.

Warmth

  • A warm bathtub is a wonderful start to a bedtime routine.

Oral Motor

  • Sip warm milk or water through a straw.
  • Brush teeth with warm water.
  • “Heavy work” of oral muscles can be calming. Sipping warm pudding through a straw, chewing on pre- wetted then frozen washcloths, stale or frozen fruit snacks, etc.

Gentle Movement

  • Snuggle up in a rocking chair when reading.
  • Swinging.
  • Two adults can swing a child placed on a blanket.

Auditory

  • “White noise” can be calming. Run the fan.
  • Calming sound - may be quiet music, sounds found in nature, or a recording of you reading a book.
  • Choose bedtime stories with a calm theme.

Visual Stimuli

  • Eliminate visually stimulating distractions by “tenting the bed”.
  • Dim the lights.

Smells

  • Consider “aromatherapy”. Certain scents are suggested to be more calming.