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5 year old wont stay asleep at night

sdaisiessdaisies
in Parenting

Help! DS has always been a terrible sleeper. In the past year he was diagnosed with sensory processing deficits, albeit mild. They rec. giving him melatonin at night to help his body calm down enough to fall asleep which was always our biggest issue. He used to come out of bed a million times before falling asleep.

For the past 6 months to a year he has been waking up 1-2 times a night to pee. I cut out liquids after a certain time, etc. The past 2 months its been 3-6 times a night he is waking up. Sometimes its for the potty, other times its to ask for help with covers, other times there is no real reason. We have tried every book, system, reward, clock, out there to help and to no avail. We are all exhausted and whats worse is that he is so sensitive to a lack of sleep he has just been so off, in school, listening, etc. Every once in awhile he will get a full night sleep and is like a different child. He wants to nap days he is up a lot, which I feel then does not help him sleep well at night.

We went to the doctor today and they sent out his urine to test for sugars and infection and if that seems healthy we will keep searching for the trigger that wakes him. If it is behavioral I feel at a loss of what else to try. Just wondering if anyone had any new ideas or experience with this? Thanks!!!

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Re: 5 year old wont stay asleep at night

  • jlw2505jlw2505 member
    My DD has ADHD and we also use melatonin which has been wonderful.  She takes it about 30 mins before lights out and has been sleeping through the night.  She always faught bedtime so I can relate.  AS far as the night waking, is her room really, really quiet?  Has anything changed in his room or near the house?  What happens when he gets up to pee?  Are lights turned on or is someone talking to him?  With my DD, when she gets up at night, all lights stay off, we don't talk and she is put right back to bed (or more often now, puts herself back to bed as I don't get up unless she calls me).  She has a small flashlight in her room in case she gets nervous/scared of the dark.  We have a clock that turns green when she can be awake and reading but we are also working on telling time and she knows that at a certain time, she can read in bed and do quiet things until the clock turns green.
    Jenni Mom to DD#1 - 6-16-06 DD#2 - 3-13-08 
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  • littlemermaidlittlemermaid member

    Melatonin should never be used long term.  2 weeks is the max it should be used.  There is something else going on if you need to use it for longer than that.    If there is no medical issue going on make sure the room is dark, limit video games, tv at night(caught it off well before his bedtime), try a white noise machine.  Also if there is no medical issue going on it might just be that he has gotten into a bad habit of not putting himself back to sleep when he does wake at night and he just chooses to get himself completely up, in which case you just have to retrain him to stay in his room and stay in bed.

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  • JenniC1135JenniC1135

    We started giving DD melatonin 2 months ago.  It's only .5mg and 2 mg of chamomile in the pill she chews - look up Ozzzz's sleep aid for children - but it has worked wonders.  She used to fight bedtime, be up and complaining for 2 hours, and then up 1-3 times at night as well, and she was miserable to be around during the day.  Now, she yawns and has been known to ask to go to bed even in the middle of a book at bedtime.

     Little mermaid, do you have research to prove what you said about not using it for longer than 2 weeks?

     

    Jenni ~~Alex & Avery ~~ 6/13/06~~Adam ~~3/26/08

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