sleep/christmas

[sparky258]

for those of you that have dc with sleep problems-has this got worse in the run up to christmas?
my dd sleep problems have just got astoundingly worse-she s over exited about christmas.

also-because of her sleep problems-cahms are talking about giving her melotonin.
[this is nothing to do with it being christmas-this was being spoken about before]

she had melotonin when she was younger but it didnt work.
has youre dc had melotonin in the past and it hasnt worked but it worked when they was older?
when she had it when she was younger i was really iffy about giving it her as it was unliecienced in this country-its still unliecenced and im still iffy about it.
what exactly does unliecenced mean-does it mean its not safe?

My son has Melatonin but it can only be prescribed by a Paediatrician apparently rather than being unlicensed or unsafe.

It is a naturally-occurring hormone so I wouldn't be too worried about it.

It does wear off though after a few hours and I'm hoping that my DS will be able to have a slow-release version when he is older because he won't take tablets at the moment.

And yes, sleep is up the wall at the moment. Just hoping that he won't want to come downstairs at 3 am when Santa has been and open all his and his sister's presents

sleep? yes please,I'd like some of that.....

we're not too bad at the moment but one hint of trouble then I'd be onto the Paed for the melotonin.

Sleep is precious and essential for retaining sanity/marbles and proportion.

we use melatonin for ds and have for several years now. I don't have any concerns about its safety and agree that sleep is essential for our sanity and also ds's mood. When tired he is v grumpy!

We are having more problems than usual, and ds is also being a lot more clingy and wanting to sleep in our bed.

Next time we see the paed we are going to ask about melatonin. It is only a natural hormone that is present anyway, so I don't think it will do any harm.

I could have written that op.
My son is 4, asd and this week he has been waking up at 1.30am high as a kite and wide awake til 5am (usually only falling back to sleep after having a meltdown to tire himself out).
I think it is the excitement of Santa coming and the sensory overload of flashing christmas trees etc.
Have no experience of melatonin but hoping the sleep probs will ease off after Christmas.

Dd2 is asking to go to bed at 6.30pm and sleeping through until 6.30am, christas seems to making her sleep (she is usually up twice in the night and wide awake by 5am), i'm starting to think she is poorly as she never used to sleep this much .

We ahve just started using a blue lightbulb lamp in ds2's bedroom as his nightlight (at the recommendation of his paed) as the blue light is meant to naturally increase the release of melatonin.
So far we have seen an improvement in his sleep, he definatly settles better & i'm not sure if he is waking less or just settling himself back to sleep better but I am definatly not getting up as much in the night.

DS2 has been ok, but that is because I've kept up his melatonin, which I usually don't use over the school holidays as much. Not sure if I will be giving him it Christmas eve though as he will be too tired to open presents otherwise.

thankyou very much for the replys everyone
i appreciate it.

Mists-
yep-i know it can only be prescribed by a peadetrician-thanks for telling me this though.
i didnt know there was a slow release version
again-thankyou.

waiting-
yes-im hoping that this problem will lessen a bit after christmas aswell.

zzzzz-
yep-i used to think this aswell-i didnt like the idea of meds.
my dd is kept busy and she has a good routine
and has done for years-unfortunatly it isnt working.
she actually got 1 hours sleep last night and
as i speak-she s happily running around-she s not tired at all.

annon-
this is something ive not heard of[blue bulb]
thanks for telling us-im going to try it.

heres to us all having a semi decent nights sleep!
(unlikely in this house though as DS been to see Santa today and is high as a kite)

We have used melatonin for a couple of years now and it does get dd off to sleep in the evening - we forgot it when away for the night and dd was up til midnight.. despite being exhausted by a day on the beach. BUT it does indeed wear off. Our nights have been crazy last few months and I'm so tired that I really feel my cognitive abilities have been affected. I'm feeling like my part time work may not be practical with severe sleep deprivation so I sympathise with all sleepless parents!

At the beginning of this journey I had reservations about giving my children any drugs at all but events have forced me to re-consider and so we reluctantly give stuff we think will improve her and our situation and nothing else has worked.

DD wakes around 1am too and is often awake til 5 or 6am. I often get to sleep only to be woken almost immediately by ds1 who is raring to go for the day..

DH does his bit. If I'm working he will try and settle dd but she's very loud and sometimes various dramas occur at night that need 2 of us anyway.. She has epilepsy so there is always the question that seizure activity causes the wakings but she already has benzodiazapine drugs to help with that and things stand as they are so.. we carry on.. DD's anti- convulsants at the level they are - are off licence too and only prescribed by a neuro paed so that probably de-sensitised us to the issue.

Christmas isn't really a factor here coz dd not aware of it really.. Just hope the new year brings more sleep for us all.

hey zzzz-no youre post didnt hit a bad note
i agree with what you said[exercise]but it dont work no more
theres no need to say sorry-youve done nothing wrong.
actually-im sorry if ive put myself across wrong[yet again]