Many children with neurodevelopmental conditions have sensory sensitivities surrounding noise. These can include sensitivity to loud noises or to subtle or distant noises. These sensitivities to sounds can cause stress or make it harder to settle or stay asleep.
Sounds might include:
Bedroom sounds: White noise machines, fans, or calming music can sometimes help create a predictable sound environment, but this really varies by child. Some find white noise soothing, others find it disruptive or even anxiety-provoking.
Household sounds: Noises from the rest of the home (TVs, siblings, conversations, footsteps, appliances) can be disruptive to sleep, especially if the child goes to bed earlier than others in the house. White noise, audio or fans can be used to mask these sounds, if the child finds it soothing.
Outside sounds: Traffic, neighbours, dogs barking, or birds early in the morning can all interfere with sleep.
It might be helpful to remember:
- The predictability of a sound is important. The predictability and consistency of the sound (especially with white noise used to mask disruptive sounds) offers a neutral stimulus for the brain to focus on throughout the night, aiding sleeping onset and preventing night-wakings.
- Soft background noise might be tolerated better than sudden, unexpected sounds.
- For some children giving them a sense of control helps. For example, choosing their own sound machine setting or using noise-reducing headphones during wind-down time.
Interesting research studies
The following research studies provide an interesting insight into the impact of sounds and noises on sleep:
Sleep problems in pre-schoolers with ASD
This study investigated children aged 1.5–5 years with a ASD diagnosis. It measured auditory-thalamic functional connectivity during natural sleep using fMRI, alongside caregiver reports of sensory sensitivity and sleep issues in children with autism vs. typically developing children.
Key points:
- Children with ASD showed higher thalamus and auditory cortex connectivity, suggesting a failure in sensory gating: sounds keep “getting louder” instead of being filtered out.
- Elevated sensory sensitivities (particularly to sound) were positively correlated with sleep difficulty measures such as longer sleep onset and more fragmented sleep with regular night-wakings. Those taking longer to fall asleep showed stronger thalamocortical connectivity, suggesting that the brain is processing sound even while trying to sleep.
This study highlights the link of certain neurodevelopmental conditions (ASD) to sound sensitivity and sleep disruption in young autistic children. This supports why predictable, controlled background sound or limiting unpredictable noise can be useful in aiding sleep onset, especially when children particularly sensitive to certain sounds struggle to habituate to auditory input.
Daytime noise
Will daytime occupational noise exposures induce nighttime sleep disturbance? – ScienceDirect
Key points:
- Daytime occupational noise had sustained effects on night-time sleep quality.
- Occupational exposure to noise levels which are slightly higher than those of the environment affect night-time sleep quality.
- Participants also showed raised cortisol levels when exposed to more noise in the day.
The effects of white noise on sleep and duration
Key points:
- Environment noise is a common source of sleep disruption for those living in metropolitan areas.
- White noise helps to mitigate the effects of environmental noise on sleep.
- Some sleep promoting benefits of white noise continue after it has been discontinued.
