My DS (9) doesn't sleep and never has done. As a baby he had chronic colic for six months, would not sleep in his cot as a baby, suffered night terrors as a young child and now just suffers from Insomnia for hours at a time. We have tried everything you could think of, nothing works.
His doctor has assured us there's nothing medically wrong and some children, like some adults, have trouble sleeping. He may grow out of it, he may not, he has gotten a lot better with age, at three he would perhaps sleep four hours over the entire night.
He gets about six on a good night and we make it work. However, since going back to school, his routine is struggling and we have had even more trouble with his sleeping.
School are aware of this and have encouraged and supported him throughout his time there. He drifted off in class today and we were called in after playtime by his new (to the school) teacher.
After explaining he has terrible trouble sleeping and that we are trying to settle back in his routine. She looked at with with a complete look of reproach and said 'Have you ever tried putting him to bed earlier? Or giving him some piriton every night?'
It has been four hours and I'm still fuming! A) at her tone and insinuation that's something so simple could rectify it (his bedtime at one point was half five) and B) to suggest essentially drugging him every night.
AIBU?
To be annoyed at teacher
calmbeforeiloseit · 29/09/2016 19:37
Insomnia is hard but must be so difficult for a child. My DP has insomnia and has tried every drug going but as with piriton they only put you to sleep not keep you asleep and even then it is not a restful sleep. I know when the sleeping tablets wear off on DP as he twitches and gets jumpy and wakes himself up.
DP is now trying melatonin tablet and good night milk, a week in he is not sleeping longer but is definatly better anle to cope with the lack of sleep. Have ye tried it? We are hopeful it will have good results
Insomnia in children is so very, very hard, OP. I suffered from it myself as a kid, and now my own dd has the same problem. She is 11, and had never slept well, but some phases are definitely worse than others - there are some nights when she has gone through the whole night without sleeping at all. She is amazing at covering it up though, and nobody realises that she is so chronically sleep deprived unless we tell them.
It is really annoying when well meaning people try to help with their "suggestions", but they just don't get it. I've lost count of the number of times that people have advised me to get dd into a good bedtime routine. Yeah, like I'd never have thought of that! 
It's brilliant that your ds has got over his fear of bedtime, at least for the time being. I think that can be the greatest hurdle, as there's no way they can get in the right frame of mind for sleep if they dread having to even get into bed. It sounds like you're doing all the right things, but it's exhausting, I know.
The teacher didn't mean any harm, she just doesn't know anything about childhood insomnia, obviously. It's your chance to educate her. I think a follow-up letter along the lines of the one suggested above might be useful.
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