Cirencester expert helps families tackle bedtime battles

Mum-of-two Michelle Cyril, an advanced paediatric sleep specialist with nearly 30 years’ experience as a children’s nurse, has created The Family Sleep Specialist (familysleepspecialist.co.uk), offering evidence-based, neuro‑affirming sleep support for autistic, PDA and ADHD children and teens.

The service is available to families in the Cotswolds and further afield via online support.

Ms Cyril, whose 10-year-old twins are autistic, says standard parenting advice around 'good bedtime routines' simply did not work in her own home.

Bath time refusals, stand-offs over tooth brushing and bedtimes sliding later and later left her feeling she was 'treading on eggshells' to avoid meltdowns.

Her breakthrough came when she combined her clinical training with a neuro‑affirming approach – working with, rather than against, a child’s brain. That shift turned nightly battles into calmer, more predictable evenings and inspired her to focus her specialist practice on neurodivergent children.

Alongside her role in an NHS‑commissioned children’s service, Ms Cyril now runs one‑to‑one online sessions, home visits and group programmes through The Family Sleep Specialist. A formal diagnosis is not needed for families to access help.

She also runs a free Facebook community, Sleep help for Neurodivergent Children and Young People, which supports thousands of parents facing similar challenges.

Ms Cyril said she wants local families to know they are not alone: many autistic children experience significant sleep difficulties, with major knock-on effects on behaviour, school and family wellbeing.

She said: “So many families I work with have been told to just try a better bedtime routine, when what their child actually needs is a completely different approach.

"I want every parent of a neurodivergent child to know that bedtime can get easier, their child can get more sleep – and so can they.”