To take a 4 hour nap, 3 times a week?

[NotYourAverageDaisy]

DS is up from 3/4am without fail, every single day. Sometimes as early as 2.30. He's up, he's jumping, he's happy and never seems tired.

No, the drugs don't work. Yes, I've tried bringing his bedtime forward consistently for a week or so. Wakes up same time. No, nobody can get up with him instead.

When he's at nursery I often sleep for 3/4 hours a day. I switch up my diary to suit this.

He starts school in September so I should be getting 5 days a week to nap.

AIBU? The reason I ask is, I phoned GP to ask in desperation if there was a drug to keep me awake that he could prescribe. I described my sleeping to him and he told me off! For sleeping in the day and said that would actually make you more tired.

Napping in the day might not be good if you sleep well all night, but if you're unable to get the sleep at night, it's a necessity I would think.

Humans are totally OK with two sleeps a night and a period of wakefulness between them rather than one extended sleep in every 24 hrs. It sounds like you are just naturally moving towards that model during this period of your life (due to external pressures!).

Limit your nap length otherwise the doctors right.
I find 15-20 mins about right for a nap, its just to recharge batteries so lay on the sofadont go to bed.
I work shifts and of If sleep for too long during the day I wake up feeling rough.
Certainly no longer than 45minutes but believe it or not 20minutes usually hits the spot, but do get up and do something to kick the tired feeling.

Your GP has clearly not spent sleepless nights up with his child. As other posters have said, you don't have insomnia, you are being prevented from sleeping by external forces. Which is actually used as a form of torture.
Grab a nap whenever you can

Your child has ADHD. He needs medication. Go back to your GP and ask for him to be referred for assessment.

www.creativecareltd.com/safesound-mini-2/

These also look interesting. Not seen these in use though.

www.creativecareltd.com/faq-page-1/

Rooms rather than the beds

If you got up for a paid job at 2.30am and worked a split shift so you finished at 9 pm, no one would judge you for having a nap jn the middle. It's the same thing. Nap asay

They seem quite expensive but you can often get help buying them. This was from their faq page

@NotYourAverageDaisy

Thank you - GP seems very insistent that napping in the day will just make things worse for me

So what did he suggest you do instead?

Agree with others the GP is wrong.

Assuming you've tried sensory sheets, Weighted blankets etc? Have you seen a sensory OT to see if they have any suggestions?

The only thing that helped a friend of mine's DD was them getting her to exercise strenuously for about 6 hours a day, which in itself is exhausting and difficult.

Is there any chance you could extend nursery hours a bit, so you have that extra time to yourself, then can go to bed at 9?

You should ask the doctor whether he avoided daytime napping when doing night shifts as a junior doctor, as surely that too would have made him more tired...

@LoveSummerNotIcecream

Your child has ADHD. He needs medication. Go back to your GP and ask for him to be referred for assessment.

He doesn't have ADHD. He has had medication, quite a strong dose. Didn't work, consultants seem to be shrugging their shoulders now.

I am still persisting though with the meds

Poor you. I was a carer for a boy with ASD who was exactly as you describe. I went there for 7am, and sometimes he had been up for three or four hours already. Melatonin didn't help. In the end, a secure bed made a huge difference. Parents put safe toys in the bed and an ipad on a timer and got a bit more sleep. But it was hell until he was given actual sedatives at night. That was around age 9 or 10 I think.

Another Mumsnet diagnosis

My son is exactly the same OP. I really do feel for you. Ignore GP, if you need the nap, then take the nap! 8 hours sleep split into segments is meant to do the same trick as 8 hours whole (I don't know how much I trust that science but it's better than no hours sleep).
I'm quite lucky in the respect that as long as I make my DS a drink and some breakfast at whatever ungodly time he wakes, then he will watch tv in bed with me quietly while I go back to sleep for an hour or so. Good luck. I hope you get some real sleep soon x

If your ds doesn't have adhd the meds will make things worse ( assuming it is the stimulant medication) . If it is making no difference may be worth trying a different type of medication

I was given lots of advice how to get my ds to sleep. None of it woukd have worked even if i had the energy to implement it.

Nothing worked for my son. Melatonin had no effect, medication from GP that was to help him sleep just made him hyper and he was running the walls. Had I not slept during the day I would never have coped.

@Lachimolala hmm I think I’ll do as I please, thanks!

Ds was on melatonin for years. The initial dose did nothing for him. Might be worth talking to another GP and seeing if you can try again with It and at a higher dose.

You May even be able to give him a small dose at 2.30 am to get some more sleep in.

I would be pushing for a referral for a sleep clinic for him.

Hopefully Reception will wipe him out and he will start sleeping better.

Sorry only just saw your last post about you and tried a higher dose and were pursuing this option. That will teach me to read the whole thread before posting

You need sleep, you can’t continue getting up at that time without catching up on it somehow. Ignore the GP and set an alarm for maybe 2hours instead and see how you go.