Sleep and Sensory Processing
By Jessica Jordan, MS, OTR/L
Sleep, the ADL that children don’t always want to participate in, but parents can’t seem to get enough of it (said the exhausted mom writing this blog post). Sleep is one of the biggest activities that is discussed all throughout the life span of your infant, baby, toddler, and child’s life…especially in those early days. Remember that lovely statement, “sleep when the baby sleeps.”
Sleep is a space where pediatric occupational therapists can hold value, as the areas of the brain controlling sleep are also closely linked to the areas of the brain that control sensory processing skills (i.e. thalamus and hypothalamus). Children with sensory processing difficulties and children with sleep difficulties both have higher levels of cortisol in the brain throughout the day (Reynolds et al., 2010 and Rӓikkӧnen et al., 2010). I like to think of cortisol as our body’s built-in alarm system, as it helps to regulate your body's stress response. Our nervous system is broken down into 2 parts: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). Our SNS is responsible for our flight or fight response, which when activated signals to our adrenal cortex to release cortisol, which is providing energy to our body. This is the last thing our body needs when we are trying to go or prepare for sleep.
This made so much sense to me because as someone who has difficulties falling asleep, I can see how much I attempt to control my sensory environment and sensory systems prior to going to sleep. Occupational therapists play a role in supporting routines, creating healthy habits, and offering strategies to help assist your child with sleeping so don’t hesitate to reach out to us directly at SUNRISE Therapies.
