I NEED SLEEP!
malcivar
member
As we all know, ASD kids can sometimes have serious sleeping issues. DS is no exception. We don't know what else to do at this point. Getting him to go to bed is an exercise in torture. It usually involves his dad locking himself in his room with him until DS just gives up - but the giving up is usually preceded by about 20 mins (or more) of at-the-top-of-your-lungs-hair-on-fire screaming.
We've tried calming routines. We've tried stories. We've tried music. We've even tried letting him fall asleep on our bed and carrying him asleep to his bed. The last one works, until he wakes up in the middle of the night.
Which brings us to ... the middle of the night where he wakes up and will stay awake singing or narrating a game/show/whatever at the top of his lungs for sometimes up to 2 hrs. DH said last night he had to stay up with him until around 4am. So needless to say this morning DS was a million kinds of grumpy as I was getting him ready for school.
Any ideas on how to get him to go to sleep with less fuss and STAY asleep? Is this something we might need to engage his pediatrician?
Thanks.
Sleepless in Bklyn.
Re: I NEED SLEEP!
I have no advice only commiseration. DD is a decent sleeper though lately she's been talking to herself/singing/etc for up to 2 hours after she lays down. We're lucky that she's not a screamer.
The problem is that she's a contortionist and constantly blocks the flow of formula through her g-tube so her pump sounds an alarm. This happens anywhere from 1-10 times a night.
Sometimes she'll puke all over the place in the middle of the night and one of us ends up on the couch with her (she falls back to sleep).
And then there is my husband's snoring problem.
For your situation it might be something to talk to your pediatrician about melatonin.
I feel your pain.
Sleepless in Wstchstr.
I have the same problems with my DS..in fact I could have written this post word for word. The one thing that works for us..and this is a last resort when all else fails to get him to bed, is a car ride. Couple times around the block and he nods off.
As for staying asleep.we have the same problem here. At least once a week he will awaken in the night and act as if it is daytime. No suggestions on what to do...we are baffled and sleepless most nights too and he is cranky next morning too.
.
Yeah, we usually take away anything electronic about 30 mins before bedtime although sometimes he'll fall asleep with an iPhone in hand but he has to be really tired for that to happen. All of a sudden we won't hear him and look over and he's out like a light.
Mostly what happens with him is that he's just got so much energy. Last night there was no crying / screaming but he was jumping up and down on the bed for about 20 minutes before he finally passed out. It's like he goes from 11 to 0 in the blink of an eye.
Thankfully, he slept through the night last night but maybe it is time to talk to the doctor about maybe trying melatonin.
Thanks for listening everyone.
I can tell you that it gets better the older they get.
Routine is key! But other things that helped us was using melatonin and a weighted blanket.
The melatonin helped with falling asleep and the blanket helped with staying asleep.
At age 5, we still use the baby projector and play music until they fall asleep and then I change it to the white noise.
Stay strong mama! Sleep deprivation is really the worse.