2.5 year old with autism sleep problems

[Leabee1234]

Hi. My son is now 2.5 years old and is on pathway of being diagnosed with autism has now been referred to paediatrician by the health visitor

I am really struggling with his sleeping. He wakes up in the night not every night but most and can be awake for over 4 hours wide awake will not sleep no matter how hard I try. Sometimes will wake at 11 wont sleep until 4 or 5. I am exhausted and as a solo mom I have had to call in sick to work a few times as I feel I have done a night shift the night before and too exhausted to try to work. Im really sleep deprived and want to try anything to help him sleep. Ive give hom some magnesium to try and help but doesn't seem to work or make a difference . Feeling so burnt out and exhausted. Some days I am on brink of s breakdown as he can be really hard work behaviour wise also. Its alot to deal with alone. His dad is completely out the picture.

Do you need to work right now? Are you able to claim benefits? You can’t possibly function on no sleep and safety is always a priority. I know that’s no help to you but it will relieve the pressure of work for you.
is your child getting their needs met during the day? Are they active seeking/mental stimulation seeking. I can imagine when you’re exhausted it’s very difficult to be thinking about these things. Do you have routine etc.
Do you have support from a nursery?

This truly isn’t acceptable- you need a referral to the sleep clinic and he will possibly need melatonin- contact his gp asap and explain there what you have explained here.

Yes i work 3 days per week part time but had ti have more time off lately . He goes to nursery which helps when I work sith the mental.stimulation. he is having 1 to 1 care at nursery. On our days off I try to get him out as much as possible to keep him busy and him occupied. We have abed time routine but he just seems to have gotten worse over last few months

Unfortunately it’s common to need less sleep, far less sleep. By 20 months my dd had dropped napping and was sleeping 10 hours max, a nap (eg falling asleep in the car) could mean that she would wake after 2-3 hours and was still awake for 2-3 hours. It’s exhausting, sorry I can’t give you a magic bullet idea, but I don’t think it’s uncommon, speak with you gp, but also keep a sleep and activity diary so you can track patterns

I went through this with my child who was diagnosed with autism at 3.5 years old. He didn’t sleep more than 40 minutes a night from birth until he was 3 years old. I’m an older mum. It nearly killed me. What helped was a quiet calm house, white noise (small fan next to the bed), strict evening routine and wind down and a lot of outside activity. It took a while. He’s now 14
and I can’t drag him out of bed (he still uses the fan) but I’m scarred from it all so I really empathise. It won’t be forever.