The link between sleep and behaviour

The cycle

Poor sleep reduces the brain's capacity for self-control the next day. Harder days mean more conflict, more stimulation in the evening and a more difficult bedtime, which shortens sleep further. Breaking the cycle usually requires changing the mornings and the wind-down at the same time.

Sleep and neurodevelopmental conditions

Sleep difficulty is not simply a consequence of ADHD or autism - it interacts with them. Many children referred for assessment improve substantially once sleep is addressed, and any good assessment reviews sleep in detail before drawing conclusions. Equally, treating sleep rarely resolves genuine ADHD, and a child should not be left waiting years on the assumption that it might.

Practical first steps

• Keep a two-week sleep diary - actual times, not intended ones.
• Fix the wake time first, then move bedtime earlier in 15-minute steps.
• Remove screens from the bedroom entirely.
• Check for snoring, and mention it to a clinician if present.