Still not bloody sleeping!!

[keepingthefaith]

DS aged 8,SPD, not slept before 12 midnight for at least last 3 months. School tomorrow and still not asleep. Prescribed Melatonin eventually but not available for pick up at least till tomorrow. Am at wits end. Tried evertything I know of ( i am school support assistant in additonal needs school). Guess its just waiting game but he seems so much more anxious than ever and just dont know how to help him. Has been referred to OT but on "waiting list" Any ideas, anyone??

extra weight blanket? Ds likes to be crowded with soft toys and cocoons himself in his quilt with animals on top! I have an extra fleece that he puts under the quilt now next to his skin. The secure feeling seems to relax him. So does listening to music on his headphones as it drowns out the household noise going on x

Can't offer any advice, but we have the same problem, ds hasn't been asleep before 2am for the last week and like you we have school tomorrow, and he is already very anxious. Have tried extra blankets, but then he is too hot!! Eagerly awaiting advice!

Thank you for both replies. He has double duvet so passes for weighted blanket and also surrounded by favourite soft toys and lights,etc. He has a cold just now so is hearing "buzzing" noises in his ears and this is also keeping him awake. Anyway older brother is now presently in same room and all is quiet. Still holding out for melatonin tomorrow and hope this gets him back on track!
Scottishdancer ds also strips off jammes regularly too.

I'm also in the same position. Ds was awake until 1am this morning followed by waking 3 times until i gave up at 6am and admitted defeat by getting up

He has school this morning!

We've got a fan in the bedroom, spent a fortune on a fish tank for his room to soothe him with white noise but nothing has worked.

We have been offered melatonin which we declined but i'm seriously reconsidering it as an option before i collapse in a tired heap.

I'm no help keeping but wanted you to know you are not alone.

Mrcrumpswife We were not keen on Melatonin either but have been convinced that it should be okay for a short term just to get the sleeping habit back on track. We have been putting it off for while now to see if he would settle himself but it was not to be.

He did eventually go to sleep in his own bed last night but still very late so might hold off for a few nights yet.

Incidentally DS is on waiting list for OT re-referral as his anxieties and sensory issues have got much worse of late.

Without melatonin I would have gone certifiably insane . My DS simply does not know how to get himself to sleep, and without it he gets more and more manic the later and the more tired he gets. There are several very robust studies suggesting that some kids simply don't produce nough melatonin in their brains when it gets dark, aNd that therefore supplementing is a very natural and safe thing to do. When we give him a periodic break from it, he is up till 130am and he and the whole family suffer physically and mentally. Just a tiny dose (2.5mg) at the precise time when he is actually getting sleepy, tips him gently into sleep and it has had no side effects at all in the 6 years we have been using it.

Thats the trouble we have, ds cannot switch off his brain at night. Even when he goes to sleep he wakes up to tap his feet on the wall, rock against his headboard so its tapping the wall or just to keep repeating the words mum. Blimey its driving me nuts and i'm so tired all of the time. Its like listening to a dripping tap all night but i cant switch him off I shoved my head under the pillow last night and made Dh get up twice for a change, i could barely open my eyes. By 6 oclock i was feeling so ratty i got up as for some odd reason i deal with it better when i'm not in bed

We have done the OT thing with zippy bedding and weighted blankets, all with no positive results. I hope you have better luck keeping

sickof that gives me a bit of hope, we are filling out a sleep diary at the moment so melatonin can be prescribed if we chose to try it now we have exhausted every other option.

My 10-year-old with autism is on melatonin, and though it doesn't work through the night, and my son often wakes up at 3am, it makes it easier for him to fall asleep. He can function on just a few hours of sleep a day, while I cannot. Melatonin has been helpful to us, though as I said not 100%

Do you have the Circadin Slow Release? Supposed to enhance sleep ALL NIGHT.

My ds (9) had melatonin for 3 months and it worked wonders...he now sleeps alone all night and although wakes early he gets himself off to sleep.
Has your son tried listening to music? Audio books?
We let our son read books with his lamp on if he is really struggling to sleep.
Has the very odd bad night but usually due to him being ill.