Sleep Tight

Bedtime doesn’t have to be a battle. 🌙

Lots of children with special educational needs and disabilities find sleep tricky. Falling asleep can take a long time, nights can be full of waking, and mornings can start far too early. If that sounds familiar, you’re far from alone, and small, steady changes really do help.

Sleep Tight is a calm, practical workbook for children with SEND and the grown-ups who care for them. Children work through it with an adult, one small step at a time: finding out how sleep works, noticing what their own sleep is like, and trying new ideas for the bedroom, the bedtime routine and a busy mind. A separate part at the back is written just for parents and carers.

WHAT’S INSIDE (53 pages)

🧠 Part 1: How Sleep Works – What Sleep Does, How Much Sleep?, My Body Clock, Sleep Facts (true or false)

📓 Part 2: My Sleep Now – How I Sleep Now, a two-week Sleep Diary, What I Noticed, My Sleep Goals

🛏️ Part 3: My Bedroom – My Senses at Night, Making It Just Right, My Dream Bedroom, Bed Is for Sleeping

🌙 Part 4: Winding Down – The Hour Before Bed, My Bedtime Routine, Screens in the Evening, Breathing and Relaxing, My Calm Place

💭 Part 5: Busy Minds at Night – Worry Time, My Worry Box, Sleepy Thoughts, Night-Time Fears and Dreams, If I Wake in the Night

☀️ Part 6: Mornings and Daytime – My Wake-Up Plan, Daylight and Moving, Food and Drink, Weekends and Holidays

👪 Part 7: For Grown-Ups – Why Sleep Can Be Harder, The Foundations, Settling to Sleep, Night and Early Waking, About Melatonin, When to See Your GP, Sleep and School, Our Family Sleep Plan

🧰 Toolkit – cut-out Routine Picture Cards, Sleep Star Tracker, a Super Sleeper certificate, Where to Get Help, and Sources for Grown-Ups

HOW IT HELPS

✔ Notice first, change second: the two-week diary shows what’s really going on before you try anything new
✔ A bedroom that suits your child’s senses, from light and sound to bedding and temperature
✔ A bedtime routine your child designs themselves, with picture cards to put on the wall
✔ Gentle tools for worries, night-time fears and waking in the night
✔ A star tracker that rewards trying, not perfect nights
✔ Plain-English guidance for parents on settling, night waking, early waking and melatonin, and when to see a GP
✔ Built on published sleep research, listed at the back for grown-ups

PERFECT FOR

• Children aged 6 to 12 with SEND who struggle to fall asleep, stay asleep or wake too early

• Autistic children and children with ADHD, anxiety or sensory differences

• Tired parents and carers who want a plan to follow

• SENCos, family support workers, school nurses and sleep practitioners

WHAT YOU GET

• 1 fillable PDF file, 53 pages, A4

• Type straight onto the pages on screen, or print and write by hand

• Print the diary, tracker and picture cards as many times as you like

• Instant digital download, so no physical item will be posted

PLEASE NOTE

This workbook is for information and support. It does not replace individual advice from your GP, paediatrician or another qualified professional. If your child snores loudly, stops breathing or gasps in their sleep, or seems very sleepy in the day, please speak to your GP. Written in UK English with UK support services listed.

© 2026 The SEN Advocate. For personal and educational use only. Not for resale or redistribution.