Sleeping and lack of it[sad]

[nuttyredhead]

hey all,
Have a long term problem with ds age 9{dyspraxia} and sleeping.He was a irritable, restless and distressed baby and we got medication to help him sleep{made him hyper the day after}LOL.
He appears to struggle to"switch off" mentally. Its a real problem at min its getting 11pm before he gets to sleep. I have used melatonin alot and it does work.

Just been docs to see if i could have any sedation type stuff prescribed and its a No.

They say its a problem for the cinical psyc!!
Has anybody got the same problem with children and sleep and what will the CP do?

we saw our paed for this as ds has HFA and his brain just does not stop he cannot fall asleep he will lay counting singing or just twirling his hands in front of his eyes

we were prescribed melatonin it is a natural hormone that most children with ASD lacks which regulates there body clock he now sleeps fabulously was hit and miss to start with i had to find the right time to give it to him if over tired it just didnt work i had to get him before over tired and works a treat

you could ask them and explain its the inability to settle and this was what ds was prescribed it for must say its post code lottery sometimes though as i know others not far from me whos paed will not let them have it for same reason

Here its C/Psych too and in fairness she was good mentoring us as we tried all sorts of intervention but ultimately in came down to a straight 'all you can do is supervise' answer.

But you know it was handy having someone to come to that conclusion with us, rather than feeling bqd.

thanks for all the advice.
My paed is pretty useless i know for sure he will not prescribe!! The way the doc looked at me you wud thought i had just asked for heroin!!

It would be great to ask for something and for them to say "of course you can".lol. In an ideal world eh. I did not take time to go see the doc for fun, this is a real problem and we are all soooooooo tired. I feel sure CP wont help much either.

My paed will not acknowledge Dyspraxia as a real problem!!

Our GP prescribed Vallergan, an antihistamine, which makes DS drowsy enough to stop his overtired activity so he gets a chance to go to sleep. Then, hes fine.

Before that he had no ability to self-soothe and just became increasingly distressed, unless rocked for literally hours.

I had asked re sedation and been completely refused. When I asked for Vallergan, on another parents, advice, it was no problem to get prescribed at all.

I simply didnt know to ask for an antihistamine or that it would help a child who cant stop and settle.

Wouldve made a huge difference to our lives if any of the doctors we'd asked about sedation had actually suggested the vallergan to us, 2 years earlier.

I can't remember the name, but there is some other antihistamine I think you can get over the counter. Go to boots and say you're going on a long plane trip and does she have anything to sedate your child....

Also, some people have success with a weighted blanket.

NUTTYREDHEAD
Sorry no advice but know how you feel.
Our dd is 4.4 and im sure she has dyspraxia but no one will dx yet as they say she is too young.
Did you get a dx late?
Our dd goes to bed ok but wakes every night at around 2.30 and cant get back to sleep untill about 5.30. Im ok for the first hour but after that i just want to cry so desperate for sleep.Dd will finally go to sleep but when its a school morning cant get her up.
Would like to know how you get on with cp.
GOOD LUCK