To beg for tips with getting my autistic son to sleep?!

Great to be outside for two hours daily that is helpful for "some" children

Home cooked food? Food they will EAT fed is best always

Screen time is not the devil my autistic child will sleep watching a lady crunch sweeties a Korean guy cutting up a watermelon with a sword or an odd man on YouTube testing gadgets

It works

In most areas you can self refer to the school nurse team for support with sleep, eating, constipation etc. if you google school nurse hub and your county you may find the info.

And

• warmie teddies
• White/pink/brown noises

I went on a sleep course run by early help, after 8 years with a child who doesn’t sleep they didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know but they said to make only one change at a time and keep with it for 3 weeks before rejecting it.

I’m in a country that allows melatonin. It was recommended by Dd’s doctor.

the biggest thing though is to stop making bedtime about sleep. It fuels the anxiety and makes it harder to fall asleep. Bedtime means going to bed and having quiet time. Get your child a kindle paperwhite and let him read as long as he wants. My parents did the same with me sans the technology. We repeated it with dd. I like the kindle because the child doesn’t have to be awake enough to turn off the light, they just drop off to sleep while reading and it turns itself off.

occasionally dd stayed up late reading. That wasn’t the worst thing in the world. In exchange, most nights the freedom to not have to fall asleep allowed her to fall asleep more easily.

I’m guessing you’ve probably tried all this but things we’ve tried

• weighted blanket (they like it but hasn’t helped)
• lot of different textured blankets
• getting outside in day light as early as possible
• 3 hours of exercise a day
• limited screen time 30 mins a day and not in the 3 hours before bed
• orange lights bulbs (haven’t tried myself)
• magnesium supplement (mighty kids)
• guided sleep mediatation - we use yoto but check they like the voice of the actor first
• warm bath before bed
• try supper v no supper
• the right type of cuddly toy
• spraying cuddly toys with my perfume/given top to cuddle
• teaching maladjusted daydreaming
• lots of reading before bedtime
• teaching breathing techniques eg rainbow breathing, bakery breathing
• pizza massage

Try Mrs honeybee on YouTube - they're sleep/meditation stories but about current stuff like mario, Pokémon and toy story. We've used them for years and really calm a child down (no experience with autism I'm afraid).

We just play on our phone as we still sit with ours as they feel safer with us there.

If you can afford it you could pay about £250 to see a child psychiatrist who can prescribe it for you. Some GPs will then take over the prescription, some won't. melatonin is pretty standard meds for the neurodiverse. You can buy them over the counter if you are going or have a stop over in most asian countries / america etc but if you want over the counter ones in the Uk try a child psychiatrist.

Exercise, lots of it

Sun Light first thing

melatonin

audible

We have to seriously limit screens, none Monday-Thursday. Yoto helps. Very regularly routine not complicated but the same each night. 1/2 hour warning, pjs, then ten more minutes play if the pjs happen without fuss, hugs and bed.

he slept through for the first time ever at 6.5 years, in a blackout pop up play tent on the floor. He asked to sleep in there for 2 weeks running (summer holidays) and by the end of the 2 weeks we had bought a snuggy pod blackout bed tent. It was magic and that year it even came on holiday with us (uk by car!) and that made my holiday not being up to 3am with him bouncing off walls. He still at 8 wakes up some nights and struggles to go to sleep some nights. This is usually when his routine is out of whack like in the holidays. But he sleeps well and the disturbed nights are few rather than every night.

Try a song on repeat. Works for me and my autistic son. Has to be a relaxing song, nothing energetic, preferably repetitive and something you like so it doesn't drive you barmy.

Male singer is better or someone with a very low voice. I use either I can't make you love me by George Michael or We will by Gilbert O'Sullivan. But anything along that line could work.

Weighted blanket and magnesium butter on the soles of the feet from sweet bee organics has helped us. Do you do any good night rituals where you say goodnight to the toys, goodnight stuffed animals etc, i found it really helps, we project planets and stars on the ceiling and say goodnight to them

That post made me giggle when I read it. I did think “Tell me your child’s not autistic, without telling me your child is not autistic” 😂

agree!
DS2 (now 17)has ADHD and has always been a terrible sleeper. We tried massage, foot rubs, lavender, well you name it we tried it.
He was prescribed circadin (melatonin) and it was like a miracle. The first night he took it he was asleep by 8pm and slept for 10 hours. They only let us have it for 6 months though.
At 17 his sleep pattern is as bad as it’s ever been. He’s often awake for 30+ hours, then crashes. He’s on vampire hours at the moment, awake all night and asleep most of the day. This has resulted in him being removed from his college course.

@Newsenmum its debatable tbh. It mainly helped with going to sleep. By the time we discovered melatonin the oldest seemed to have mostly aged out of the early waking. The youngest improved, I think, but mainly because she was going to sleep in the first place more easily and that seemed to help her to get into the way of it. Sadly she still wakes at stupid o' clock from time to time and we just deal with it. (She does have ADHD though.)

I think there are more slow release forms which are supposed to help with waking- our oldest is on these- but for her, they don't help. We are still struggling to get proper assistance from CAHMS there...

GP’s aren’t allowed to prescribe it initially, has to be done by a consultant

I never solved this when he was younger. It just got gradually better as he got older. Thank god!! I feel for you.

If only it were that easy!!

My daughter also goes to sleep watching Netflix on her tablet. She uses familiar programmes to regulate and that is okay, sometimes you have to throw away the parenting “rules” that work better for neurotypical children, because your child isn’t neurotypical and you all need some sleep 😊

I would ask for a referal to a paediatrician and get melatonin. It's absolutely abundantly clear that my son does not produce enough naturally. If you can afford a private paediatrician and get it that way. Or via NHS. The GP can't gate keep, check your rights.

My DDs 20 and is the same. They were a real gamechanger for us at the time.
Now though, it is weird to suddenly hear one still playing in the middle of the night where she's fallen asleep and not switched them off!

If you can access Spotify there is a good guided meditation playlist for kids by 'new horizon holistic centre' open.spotify.com/playlist/2nVAJ7bR7bruTvMfGuUmlv?si=P2ybNxNUTcaBf81eUuUlAA&pi=e-_LWl-RPLQh-D

The lady speaking has a lovely soft northern accent and they have all different sleep scenarios, my DS loves it.

My DS used to want his tablet but hell no!! - he would play minecraft all night!! He's not even allowed audiobooks as he will listen to the full 3 hours then want to discuss it at 11pm! No screens after 6pm. No toys either!!

He listens to repetitive white noise (waves and piano chords) and when he was 6 it was mostly doodling on the whiteboard that kept him quiet and slowed his brain down.

I often take him on a 5km walk before bed too. Doesn't always help as he talks at me the whole time! But does at least help him fall asleep.

Sleep sprays on pillows also work well here, alongside melatonin, exercise till you drop.
You might also want to consider ADHD alongside the ASD

Well we are going through the thick of it with meltdowns every night and sometimes all nighters 😅

But the few things I find eases it is.
:sensory lamps. (We have the fish water one and she gets distracted by it which helps speed up the calm down) or even those night star lamps.

I don't talk, just respond to her with hugs, pats when accepted and if we chat do it all in whisper to keep the whole vibe zen. (I mimic those meditation voices 😂)

Background calm sleep sounds. Classical music is on in the background of our bedtime routine and then rain noises or sleep sounds.

We have been told to refer to cerebra for sleep help as a self referral, they take kids waiting for the diagnosis. Ours us going through the process too.