dd is an HIE baby, she was starved of oxygen due to a mistake during delivery and as such has spent a lot of time in therapy learning how to balance and walk and use her weaker side.anyway, along with this she has never slept.
At 21mo the longest she has slept is five hours. Three times. And always 7-12 never once we are asleep. DD is constantly tired, constantly whining, stumbling, stiff, grumpy etc. So having made it through 17teeth and many many supposed sleep regressions (ha bloody ha) we have been prescribed melatonin (kidnaps) and tonight is the seventh night of taking 3mg half an hour before bed.
It has revolutionised her behaviour during the day, now you'd have to know her or look really really carefully to see the weakness in her movements, she walks tall, she engages, she laughs at things and is finally starting to create meaningful babble and associations with items, she signs for items that she wants such as food, drink, clean nappy and bedtime. She has spoken one new word a day, even if she then won't repeat the, including her name, her doll, up, ball, toast, baby, and best of all, even if just once, mamma. She is a changed child. Add to that she is happy.
BUT. There has ti be a but. She still isn't sleeping through and she has developed full blown night terrors, I physically cannot hold her, DH can but only just. These have been since she started the melatonin and we are not sure what to do. She goes to sleep at 7pm, she wakes screaming and writhing and fighting us 3 hours later, is then very unsettled until 4-5am, whereupon she sleeps until maybe 6am. DH and I alternate nights but at the moment we aren't even getting any rest on those nights because it takes both of us to calmer. Last night I read her two favourite books to wake her up fully and calm her down and then after an hour she asked to go back to sleep.
Do we up her melatonin or stop it or speak to the neuro about slow release? Or will it even out? Neuro said to just keep DD on this for 1-2 months to try to show her brain how to sleep more deeply.
Thank you
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Melatonin and severe night terrors
7 replies
slowlyburningcalories · 27/05/2012 22:13
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HotheadPaisan ·
27/05/2012 22:47
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PipinJo ·
27/05/2012 23:25
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ArthurPewty ·
28/05/2012 16:44
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