Expert Sensory Integration Therapy for Sleep Disorders in Children

Why Choose Cadabam’s for Sensory Integration Therapy?

Choosing a therapeutic partner is a significant decision. At Cadabams, we combine decades of experience with a compassionate, family-centered approach to create an environment where your child can achieve lasting success.

A Legacy of Trust and Expertise in Child Development

With a legacy spanning three decades, Cadabam’s has established itself as a leader in pediatric care. Our philosophy is rooted in celebrating neurodiversity, understanding that every child's brain is unique. We don't just treat symptoms; we create personalized pathways that respect your child's individual needs and foster their strengths.

State-of-the-Art Sensory Gyms and Infrastructure

Our facilities are designed to be both fun and therapeutic. Cadabam’s state-of-the-art sensory gyms feature a wide array of specialized equipment, including suspended swings, deep-pressure ball pits, climbing walls, and diverse tactile stations. This controlled environment allows our therapists to provide the precise sensory input your child needs to organize their nervous system and learn to regulate their responses.

A Multidisciplinary Team for Holistic Care

Sleep challenges rarely exist in isolation. That's why our model is built on collaboration. Your child's care team will include specialized Occupational Therapists working in tandem with Child Psychologists, Speech-Language Pathologists, and Special Educators. This holistic approach ensures we address every facet of your child’s development, from sensory needs to emotional well-being and communication.

Seamless Therapy-to-Home Transition for Lasting Results

Our goal is to empower your entire family. Therapy doesn't end when you leave our centre. We provide extensive parent coaching and training, equipping you with practical strategies and a deep understanding of your child's sensory profile. This focus on home implementation ensures consistency, reinforces therapeutic gains, and strengthens the parent-child bonding that is so crucial for development.

Does Your Child Experience These Sleep Problems?

Recognizing the link between sensory processing and sleep is the first step toward finding a solution. Our sensory integration therapy for sleep disorders is designed to address the root causes of these common challenges, highlighting the immense benefits of sensory therapy for sleep.

Difficulty Settling Down and Bedtime Resistance

Does bedtime feel like a battle? Many children who struggle with sensory processing appear "wired" or hyperactive as the day ends. They may resist the bedtime routine, seem unable to unwind, or become increasingly agitated. This is often a sign of a nervous system that is overstimulated or an under-responsive proprioceptive or vestibular system that is seeking intense input to feel organized.

Frequent Night Waking and Restless Sleep

A child who frequently wakes throughout the night may have a poorly modulated sensory system. This prevents them from entering and sustaining the deep, restorative stages of sleep. Their brain may be unable to filter out minor sensory information—the hum of an appliance, a slight change in room temperature, or the texture of their pyjamas—leading to constant disturbances and restless, non-recuperative sleep.

Oversensitivity to Bedroom Environment (Sounds, Textures, Light)

This is a hallmark challenge in sensory integration for sleep problems in children. A child may exhibit:

• Tactile Defensiveness: Refusing to wear certain pyjamas, complaining about seams or tags, or resisting blankets.
• Auditory Hypersensitivity: Being easily startled by household noises, the sound of a flushing toilet, or even a parent’s footsteps.
• Visual Hypersensitivity: Difficulty sleeping unless the room is in complete darkness.

Seeking Intense Sensory Input Before Bed (Crashing, Bouncing)

Some children need to create high-intensity sensory experiences to calm themselves down. This can look like intentionally crashing into furniture, jumping repeatedly on the bed, or demanding deep, squeezing hugs. This isn't "bad behaviour"; it's the child’s intuitive attempt to provide their body with the strong proprioceptive and vestibular input it needs to regulate their nervous system before they can even attempt to sleep.

Our Assessment Process: A Data-Driven Approach to Personalized Therapy

We believe that effective therapy begins with a precise diagnosis. We don’t guess; we assess. Our comprehensive evaluation process is designed to uncover the specific sensory processing challenges at the root of your child’s sleep difficulties.

Step 1: In-depth Parent Consultation and Sleep History

Your journey with us starts with a conversation. Our experts will sit down with you to listen to your concerns and gather a detailed history of your child’s sleep patterns, bedtime routines, daily behaviours, and sensory preferences. Your insights as a parent are invaluable to our process.

Step 2: Comprehensive Sensory Profile Assessment

Using a combination of internationally recognized standardized tools (like the Sensory Profile 2) and structured clinical observations in our sensory gym, our Occupational Therapists conduct a thorough assessment. We evaluate how your child processes vestibular (movement), proprioceptive (body awareness), tactile (touch), auditory (sound), and visual information to create a complete picture of their sensory system.

Step 3: Collaborative Goal-Setting for Your Family

Based on the assessment findings, we work directly with you to establish clear, meaningful, and achievable goals. These goals are tailored to your family's unique situation and may include reducing bedtime from 90 minutes to 30, decreasing night wakings by 50%, or empowering your child to fall asleep independently.

How Sensory Integration Therapy Helps Sleep Disorders: Our Programs

Our therapy programs are active, engaging, and designed to rewire the nervous system for better regulation. We translate complex neuroscience into practical, play-based interventions that lead to peaceful nights.

In-Center Therapy: Building Regulation in Our Sensory Gym

Led by a dedicated Occupational Therapist, your child will participate in one-on-one sessions in our sensory-rich environment. These sessions are not random play; every activity is chosen with a therapeutic purpose.

• Linear Swinging: Provides calming vestibular input to organize the brain.
• Heavy Work: Activities like pushing weighted carts or crawling through tunnels provide powerful proprioceptive input that calms and regulates the nervous system.
• Deep Pressure: Using therapy balls or crash pads to provide comforting pressure that reduces anxiety.

Crafting a 'Sensory Diet for Sleep Improvement'

A core component of our approach is designing a sensory diet for sleep improvement. This is not about food. A "sensory diet" is a personalized daily schedule of sensory activities designed to feed your child's nervous system exactly what it needs, at the right times, to stay calm and regulated throughout the day. A well-regulated child during the day is far more likely to sleep well at night.

Practical Sensory Integration Therapy Activities for Bedtime

We empower you with specific, easy-to-implement sensory integration therapy activities for bedtime that become part of a predictable and calming routine. Your therapist will guide you on which activities are best for your child, which may include:

Calming Proprioceptive Input

• Using a weighted blanket (with OT guidance on weight and duration).
• Giving "bear hugs" or deep-pressure massages with lotion.
• Rolling a therapy ball gently over the child's legs and back.

Organizing Vestibular Input

• Gentle, rhythmic rocking in a rocking chair or therapy swing.
• Slowly swaying together to calming music.

Soothing Tactile, Auditory, and Visual Input

• A warm bath with Epsom salts before bed.
• Providing soft, seamless pyjamas and preferred bedding materials.
• Using a white noise machine to block out disruptive sounds.
• Installing blackout curtains to create a dark, womb-like environment.

Parent Coaching and Digital Guidance

We extend our support beyond our centre's walls. Through tele-therapy sessions and our digital resource platform, we provide ongoing coaching to help you confidently implement the sensory diet and bedtime strategies at home, troubleshoot challenges, and celebrate progress.

The Experts Guiding Your Child to Restful Sleep

Our multidisciplinary team is the cornerstone of our success. Each expert brings a unique and vital perspective to your child's care plan.

• Occupational Therapists (OTs): Certified in Sensory Integration, our OTs are the architects of your child's therapy. They perform the assessments, design the sensory diets, and lead the in-centre therapy sessions.
• Child Psychologists: They address the behavioural and emotional components of sleep challenges, working with children on anxiety and with parents on managing stress and maintaining consistent routines.
• Special Educators: If a child has a co-occurring developmental delay or learning difficulty, our educators help integrate sensory strategies into their daily and academic routines for all-day regulation.

Expert Quote from our Lead Occupational Therapist: "Sleep isn't just a behavioural issue; for many children, it's a neurological one. By providing targeted sensory input, we help their nervous system find the 'just right' state of calm needed for sleep. A well-designed sensory diet is the key to unlocking this potential.”

Expert Quote from our Child Psychologist: "When we reduce sensory-driven stress during the day, we drastically lower the barriers to sleep at night. Our integrated approach ensures we support both the child’s neurological needs and the family’s emotional well-being.”

Real-Life Transformations at Cadabam's CDC

Words can only say so much. Here are some anonymized stories of children whose lives were changed through our sensory integration programs.

• Case Study 1: Overcoming Tactile Sensitivity for Better Sleep.

  • The Challenge: 6-year-old Maya would scream at the sight of her pyjamas and fought against having any blankets on her. Bedtime was filled with tears and took over two hours.
  • Our Approach: An assessment revealed severe tactile defensiveness. Her OT created a sensory plan involving deep pressure activities before bed and a gradual introduction to different soft textures in a playful, no-pressure environment.
  • The Result: Within six weeks, Maya began tolerating her pyjamas. Today, she seeks out her soft, weighted blanket for comfort and falls asleep peacefully within 20 minutes.

• Case Study 2: Calming the "Hyper" Child.

  • The Challenge: 5-year-old Rohan needed to crash into the sofa and jump on his bed for 30-45 minutes every night before he could even lie down. His parents were exhausted and worried.
  • Our Approach: Rohan's sensory diet was designed with structured "heavy work" activities an hour before bed, like animal walks and pushing a laundry basket full of books. This gave him the intense proprioceptive input he was craving in a safe, productive way.
  • The Result: The pre-bedtime crashing stopped. Rohan now engages in his "superhero jobs" (heavy work) and then transitions calmly to reading a book with his dad before sleep.