We have a 4.5 year old who from 15 months to 2.5 had horrible night terrors almost every night, now it is every few months. We notice a trigger when she is over tired. I read a piece today about how autistic people can struggle to produce melatonin which can affect their sleep (up to 50% less than "normal"). We have to battle her to go to bed every night, we always have. She would stay up until 11pm at age 1 if she got any form of a nap, and now that she doesn't nap still doesn't go down until 9.30-10pm. I am noticing other signs, and have been for a long time if i'm honest. She is extremely rigid in what she does, she is very adverse to foods (which i've always put down to toddler pickiness), she is extremely sensitive to the way things feel, especially things like suncream on her face. The meltdowns can be extreme. She thrives on routine, so the summer holidays have frankly been a nightmare. As she gets older I frequently question if she has something on the ASD/autism spectrum. As a child of the 80s, I came from the autism is only non verbal and extreme generation. My husband is definitely somewhere on the spectrum and his whole family knows this. The one time I brought up our daughter potentially having something he had a very bad reaction to it so I know he is very sensitive to the labelling and was on the "there is no take back once you say this about her" band. I haven't brought up how I feel about it in years. On the flip side, our daughter is extremely smart, has been so verbal since she was 10 months old, plays well, makes friends, is active, and outwardly looks very much like a "normal" child of her age. Her doctor/childcare workers have never suggested that she may be on the spectrum. I don't know if there is a benefit to getting a diagnosis, or putting it forward with my husband again, or if this is something to "wait out and see". It is all so confusing. Last night we had a horrible time with night terrors and it just brought it all flooding back. If anyone has been through something similar i'd love some advice on how you handled it and if getting a diagnosis helped at all, especially if your other half didn't fully support it.