We do! I was talking to a few mom's last night who have kids with autism. We were discussing the sleep issues that ours kids have. Then after being up 3 times with my own kiddo last night I groggily log onto Facebook to catch up on what's going on. Two more mom's comment on their kids being up several times through the night! Any given night is like a frat party at our house. I never know where I'll end up in the morning! However.....there's not much fun involved! Wish I knew what was causing all of these sleep issues in these kids. For some it's gut issues, others may be sensory related. For my child, I think it's more of an "anxiety" thing. He likes to know someone is there.....so he's always getting up to check and see. Recently he is now getting up and turning on his light and crawling back into bed. We even got a big stuffed animal to put into bed with him to make him feel more secure (there's no fooling him!) We do use melatonin as well. It does seem to be worse in the winter than in the summer. Maybe because they are outside running around exhausting themselves in the summer! Regardless, all of this interrupted sleep causes problems for all of us. We are tired and crabby and have less patience, and I am sure that it's not good for the kiddo as well, contributing to less focus and more meltdowns. If you have a sleep suggestion that works for your kiddo, leave a comment! Maybe you can help a family get a better nights sleep!
ahhhh . . . been there done that. we're convinced it's neurological. when there are a few sleepless/sleep-little nights, we see breakthroughs. we tried the melatonin. got right to sleep, but woke up 4 hours later consistently for about a week. now we give the melatonin IF she wakes up before 2a. keeping her up later seems to help fall asleep easier. little to no TV (especially after dinner) and lots of exercise and fresh air (shoveling snow) makes a difference for us. we do still occasionally have to use what i call the deprivation method we read a book about and that seems to get her clock re-adjusted.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree that it is neurological related. We love Kavinace from Neuroscience. We do lean on the pharmaceutical industry (Ssshhh) for Clonidine when it's a rough patch. Hate to do it but lack of sleep increases his seizure activity. The lesser evils we must choose...sigh....
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