ASD 3 yr old plus baby = no sleep

[Bethesdamam]

Haven't posted on here before but thought I'd see if anyone had any ideas! We've been trying desperately to get ds (6 months) to sleep for a bit longer between (breast)feeds at night; this usually involves my husband going to him instead of me and attempting to soothe him.

Unfortunately dd (3 and a half, probable ASD - we're on the waiting list!) has started waking up every time he does and wailing inconsolably. I've just been giving in and sticking ds on the boob to shut him up, and then she settles back down too. Up until now dd has been sleeping through it all so not sure why the sudden change, but we CANNOT SLEEP and are feeling CRAZY!! Any ideas? (NB she cries in the daytime too if ever she hears another child crying.)

((Hugs)) just wanted to say, my DS, Aspergers went through a phase of crying and screaming when he woke up, from the age of 2 until he was about 7. We didn't have a younger child in the house, so your DD behavior might be a symptom rather than a show of anger at being woken up. It might be worth mentioning at her assessment. All the best.

Cos your ds is really clever and has realised that 'delegated' loud screaming is the best way to get his mummy milk

I have 3 dc. Dd1 is 8, dd2 is 6 and ds is 7 months.

The girls both slept really well from quite a young age - a combination of luck and 'shaping' their sleep patterns. Ds is a terrible sleeper, and part of the reason is that I go to him at the slightest noise, because his room is right next to the dd's room and I don't want dd1 disturbed at all.

We had a few years of sleep issues with dd1 which were really hard to resolve and we don't want to go back there. And so for us, the easier solution is to soothe ds immediately. It won't last forever. Until the last couple of weeks, he was waking every 2 hours or so to feed. I slept in his room because it was easier - is this an option for you? He has just begun to sleep a bit better, but we have 'lost' our evenings instead - he is up with us downstairs until we go to sleep.

One day it will all come together. The main thing for us is to avoid dd1 being woken in the night as going back to the issues we had with her (which started when she was 4) are really not an option.