Can Music Make Bedtime Better for a Child with Autism? We Think So!

According to the Center for Disease Control, roughly 1 out of every 59 children has been identified Autism Spectrum Disorder. The disorder, often simply shortened to "autism", is not a single condition, but a spectrum of several different types, which can be severe enough to require constant care and attention. Autism indicators usually show themselves by the time a child is 2-3 years old, which presents a number of unique challenges to parents.

One of the most difficult is getting a child to sleep on time and ensuring he or she can rest well when they do sleep. Early results of a recent Stanford University study show that children with autism take longer to fall into REM sleep and spend less time there than other children. The study also suggests that autistic children are more likely to experience sleep apnea, which will wake them up several times as they have trouble breathing. But the sleep-related problems begin before the sleep actually starts. According to a researcher working in Australia, insomnia is a huge problem.

In the 1990s, Australian psychologist Amanda Richdale found that 44 to 83 percent of children on the spectrum have some kind of difficulty with slumber, based on parent reports. Since then, a growing number of studies using increasingly sophisticated objective methods — including video recordings and FitBit-like wristwatches that track movements during sleep — have confirmed the high prevalence of sleep disruptions in this population.
What they’ve found is that children on the spectrum most commonly struggle with insomnia that delays the onset of sleep. They also get less rest overall than do typically developing children, and frequently awaken during the wee hours, roiling the household. “I still remember the mother of a 19-year-old telling me that her daughter would wake for long periods of time at night, just lying in bed singing to herself,” says Richdale, associate professor of psychology at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.

So what is a parent of a child with autism to do? As it turns out, there are ways to help. The important things to remember is that bedtime routines matter. A lot. Children with autism generally respond well to predictable structure -- things like going to bed the same time every night and having the same bedtime "rituals" (having a story read to them, getting into their pajamas, closing the curtains and turning off the lights, making the room dark and calm).  "Calm" is the watchword. Just as adults need that time of "winding down" that makes sleep come more easily, children on the spectrum need a definite period of winding down, with minimal distractions and a focus on dark and soothing and quiet.

One of the more helpful tools to get there is quiet music or ambient "nature" sounds and there is, at least, anecdotal evidence that using either one can be a real help for parents of autistic children. Let me share one such story. A few months ago, we at My Butterfly Pillow got a message from a customer. She had given a pillow to one of her sons, who is autistic, so he could listen to soothing rain sounds through the built-in Night Owl Speakers. He fell in love with his new pillow. In fact, he told his Mom he couldn't wait for bedtime now so he could drift off to sleep while listening to the rain.

We don't yet have solid science that says listening to quiet music will help your child sleep better. As with anything, you have to experiment until you find what works for you and your child. We do know this: soothing music (most autism and sleep research organizations recommend soft classical music with a regular beat and moderate dynamic changes) or ambient nature sounds do work very well with quite a few people. There are literally dozens of smartphone apps and hundreds of playlists on streaming music services dedicated to those two things. Why are they there? To help people calm their minds so they can sleep. A child with autism who is having trouble sleeping may just benefit from the same thing that benefits everyone else. In fact, you may find it benefits them more, as it might give them a solid anchor on which to focus. Remember, focus is a big deal. So is calm.

Bedtime music can give both. It's worth a try.

(Photo Credit: pettycon on Pixabay)

Good Night; Sleep Tight; Get Your Bedtime Playlist Right!

In his 1697 play The Mourning Bride, William Congreve wrote "Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast, To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak." But music has one more charm -- the charm to help you sleep.

According to a recent analysis of several sleep studies, listening to music as you go to sleep "caused significant improvements in sleep quality". The benefits take time to work -- the two studies that showed little to no improvement lasted less than three weeks -- but they do exist. The studies did have some holes in how they were designed, which means they were not conclusive. That is, you can't say "science says sleeping with music will cure all your ills". The best we can say is "listening to music as you sleep helps you sleep better, though how much better or what types of improvements you see can vary", which isn't bad. What's more, none of the studies showed that music made sleep worse. So, according to the analysis, music can help, won't hurt, and is, as this 2008 study concluded, "safe, easy, and cheap".

How, though, do you pick the right music? Should you use headphones, earbuds, or a speaker? Where do you get the music? Hey, I'm glad you asked all those questions! As it turns out, we here at MyButterflyPillow love listening to music as we sleep (and steaming videos and lectures and audiobooks too, but let's just stick to music for now). We have a couple of tips for listening to music as you drift off to dreamland. Let's go!

1. Speakers are better than earbuds or headphones. You know how you move around as you sleep? Try that with a set of headphones on or a pair of earbuds stuck in your ears. If you winced, well, join the club. You're far better off connecting to a speaker, either directly or through a Bluetooth connection. Our Smarter Pillow comes with speakers that will let you listen to whatever you like without disturbing anyone sleeping next to you. Cool, right? 
2. Pick the music you like. This is usually where a web site suggests you listen to classical music or soothing ambient sounds. That's fine if you like those things. What if classical music drives you up the wall? What if listening to rain sounds makes you...antsy? If you listen to music, listen to music you like. That's where you'll find relaxation. However, you should know that you'll get your best results from choosing music with a tempo that most closely matches the average human resting heart rate (60 to 80 beats per minute). Maybe start with the music of Ed Sheeran or anyone else on this Spotify playlist. 
3. Be patient. The analysis earlier in this article suggests it can take more than three weeks to see the benefits of bedtime tunes. Don't sweat it if you don't see immediate improvement. Relax. Enjoy the good music. Remember that good sleep begins with comfort and relaxation. You won't get either one if you're worried about your inability to relax and be comfortable. Don't put that stress on yourself! Just lie back, hit the "play" button, and sleep tight. 

(Photo Credit: minka2507 on Pixabay)

What is Mindfulness and How Can It Help You Sleep Well?

Let's talk about falling asleep and staying there.

According to a 2005 National Sleep Foundation poll, more than 50 percent of us experience at least one symptom of insomnia at least a few nights a week. A third of those polled said they have at least one symptom every single night! That's a lot of tossing and turning and waking up in the middle of the night. If you ask us, that's far too much! We were not made for poor sleep. You can link any number of health problems to lack of sleep, and those problems can be serious. We're talking heart problems, depression, and high blood pressure, to name only three!

One way to get better sleep is to make sure you have a good bed for sleeping. You need a good mattress and the best pillow you can buy. Of course, we have a pillow recommendation, but that's not the point of this article.

The point of this article is the other big thing you can do to help you get better sleep: meditation.

Wait! Stop! Don't go running off like that. This is not the meditation (or, if you want to be modern and trendy, mindfulness) of the 60s and 70s. You don't need to sit in uncomfortable positions nor learn a mantra. This is simple meditation, geared toward calming your mind and focusing it on what is happening right now instead of rehashing the bad events of the past or fretting over the concerns of the future. You know what I mean, right? You know what it's like to lie awake in bed while your brain replays that time in high school when you embarrassed yourself so hard you thought you would actually die. You know what it feels like to be almost asleep only to have your brain play the "what if" game with you. What if, your brain says, you lose your job tomorrow? What if the car breaks down and you can't pay for the repair? What if someone finally launched that nuclear attack we were so worried about 30 years ago? 

Mindfulness is a way of quieting those memories and worries. And it works! This 2015 study showed that just a "low dose" of mindfulness caused a noticeable improvement not only on sleep duration and quality but also on work performance. We also have this 2010 study and this 2015 study that came to similar conclusions. A little bit of meditation at the end of the day helps a lot.

But what are we talking about here? What are these practices and principles? Fortunately, you don't need a lengthy class or venerable teacher. You need two things: breathing and focus. The simplest mindfulness exercise involves nothing more than lying still and quiet and breathing -- in and out, slow and regularly. As you breathe, focus on your breathing.  Count slowly to four while you inhale then to the same on your exhale. Whenever your brain would wander, bring your thoughts back to counting. Slowly and intentionally. One to four in the one to four out. Then again. You can almost feel yourself physically relax as you breathe slowly in and out and you count one, two, three, four...

Whew! Almost fell asleep there. See how well it works? And the very best thing is, anyone can do it, even while you're awake at your desk at work. You don't need a special app or anything! Of course, if you do want some guidance, you can find it easily from any of these mindfulness apps, all of which have a pretty solid free component to them.

Now all you need is a way to listen to the meditations in a way that won't disturb anyone around you. You could use headphones or earbuds, but if you sleep on your side, those will get uncomfortable pretty quickly. What you really need is a pillow with some Night Owl Speakers built right in so you can listen to calming night sounds while you slowly breathe and count yourself down to restful sleep. Yeah, something like that would be about perfect.

We do not endorse mindfulness on the edge of a cliff,
but what works for you, right? Don't fall off!

(Photo Credits: Olichel and AlainAudet on Pixabay)