ADHD Children Need More Sleep
December 16, 2008 
4 Comments
Every parents worst nightmare: The Dreaded Morning Routine Before School
What parent enjoys or even remotely looks forward to the constant battle of trying wake up their child / teen and get them moving in the morning. And that’s just the beginning. Because we know that once you wake up your child, you still need to get them in the shower, dressed, room cleaned, bag packed, etc…
This is easily one of the most frequently discussed topics in my office. It might NOT start out this way. It might not even be the “chief complaint,” but you can bet on it that stressful mornings are one of the hottest topics among parents of children with ADHD.
And rightly so!
Starting the day with an argument or frustrating task does not set the right tone. But what if it wasn’t your child’s fault?
I try to inspire my clients to accept differences, and not fight the challeneges. I try to help parents understand that while the morning is difficult for their childre, there is likely a reason behind it. This is even more true for children with ADHD. While it might be easy to suggest that your child’s difficult routine is because of their ADHD – I don’t want you thinking that way.
Finally – PROOF!
Recent research has suggested that children (especially teens) need about 8-10 hours of sleep each night. This article from CNN.com supports what I’ve been saying (and thinking) for years…even as a child going to school. In a nutshell, children will perform better if they were allowed to get more sleep.
On top of it – and this is the BELL RINGER – is that children who start their school day 1 hour later (8:30 intsead of 7:30) have an easier time staying awake in class.
What’s The Real Issue?
- Is this really ground-breaking news?
- Is this only relevant to ADHD?
- Does this explain how children struggle in the morning?
I’ll let you decide the implications in your life, and for your child. But for me, the bottom line, is that we know an awful lot of information from practical experience and years of routine. YET — we don’t take this seriously and make changes or implement policy until “scientific evidence” supports what we know.
In this case, I’m pretty sure there has been research out for many years on this topic. How will you use this information?
What Do You Think?
Let me know what you think about this by leaving your thoughts in the comments below.
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Having 2 teenage boys with ADHD, I agree, mornings are a battle. In our house, they can sleep 4 hrs or 14 and the battle is the same. They require longer wake up time. One thing we used for a couple years and it worked although it may sound bizarre..my boys showered and got dressed for school in the evening, slept in their clothes and out to school they went. The clothes were clean, the beds were clean, they didn’t wrinkle because at the time, they wore wind pants and t shirts almost daily. This worked for us. Just because it’s outside the norm, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong. It cut their wake up routine by 30 minutes some days of battling to get dressed and I was battling with 2 of them! I say, pick your battles and do whatever works for you.
I agree. My 6yr old daughter has ADHD and if she does not get 10 hrs of sleep she is all over the place. I have a sleep routine with her that works pretty well. She is in bed by 8pm and her internal clock get her up at 7am every morning. I don’t have battles and she wakes up in a good mood. In talking with her teacher I find that the days she doesn’t get much sleep she is very inattentive.
Hi Rory,
I find your post on sleep very interesting. As a person with ADHD, a parent of a child with special needs and a professional in the special education field, EVERYTHING you mentioned about the importance of sleep rings true for me. It always amazes me to hear from teachers that their #1 complaint for students with ADHD is that they are often late to school and fall asleep in class! Of course, sleep is crucial for everyone, but especially for people with ADHD. My son is 9 years old and when he was not falling asleep or staying asleep at night, he was miserable for the next few days at both home and school. We finally decided to try Clonidine at bedtime and it has worked wonders for him. He gets 10 hours of great sleep a night. He is more alert to focus and learn the next day, his grades have improved, his moods are more stable, he is less impulsive and more pleasant to be around.
I often wonder if more children with ADHD and other mental health disabilities were treated with a sleep intervention, if that would improve the treatment of ADHD. Maybe there are other sleep interventions that could work for these children, which in turn would help to reduce the need for medication in some.
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