Issues waking up from nap

Post Reply New Topic

I'm not a parent but I work with a 4 year old at a daycare who still naps almost every day. He is mostly nonverbal and communicates largely through gestures and PECs. He usually wakes up on his own from the noise and lights but pretty much always wakes up screaming. If we try to talk to him, offer him toys, offer him comfort, etc. he just yells and can become aggressive or try to hurt himself. He will usually try to hit me if I wake him up. It can take up to an hour for him to become his regular self after waking up. He usually naps 30 minutes to an hour. His behavior intervention worker thinks that it could be confusional arousal but his parents aren't convinced because they don't see it at home. Could it be a kind of sensory overload? If so, how can I wake him up from nap and keep him awake without him being overstimulated?

Your approach of looking for the root cause of the behavior is quite thoughtful. The child reminds me a bit of myself around that age. I was nonverbal until I was 4 years old and for a short time I was in a preschool with other kids and they would have nap times, cribs for the tiny kids and various types of toys. I couldn't stay there because I would get agitated and try to bite. In my own case that was because I was getting regularly abused at home, including being gagged to keep me quiet. So if I would see an adult standing over me, including when I'd wake up, I would flat-out panic. I was afraid if it seemed someone might grab or hit me. Sensory overload always has made me cranky (even to this day), but never aggressive. I would imagine a child could have a meltdown due to sensory issues, but your description of his behavior sounds more directed than that. Does the 4 year-old have a place where he can nap just by himself, where there won't be adults around? His behavior upon waking alone might help to determine if he's reacting to sensory overload (the noise and lights) versus reacting to the presence of adults due to confusion and arousal of his fight-or-flight response.

I remember when I was younger and would get woken up from a nap or in the morning I would get angry. But part of it was the lights. When they would suddenly turn on I would just get mad. That sudden jolt of something, not just lights, was the worst.

Can't you just let him lay there quietly? Maybe provide a partition, and choose a relatively quiet spot.