Why do dyspraxic children sleep badly and have nightmares?

[OHforDUCKScake]

My son hasnt been diagnosed. The school is working with us and Im seeing his paediatric GP next week.

But I recently (after wrongly thinking he may have mild aspergers after having some of the traits) saw a list of symptoms of a dyspraxic child and he ticked every single one. Except flapping his arms when he ran. So I googled what they meant. This morning my son was running across a path and it was absolutely identical. My stomach actually dropped at that point.

My son (6.5) has always, always slept badly. He still does. And has a nightmare at least once a week. If there is change (new school year/going on holiday) he'll have nightmares every night until said change happens.

What causes the regular weekly nightmares? Why do dyspraxic children have nightmares?

Of course its hyperthetical because we have no diagnoses yet. But I just wondererd.

Also - and this is a ridiculous question- can controlled crying as a baby cause dyspraxia?

I hugely, hugely struggled with him at night when he was a baby. I was on my own and nights were hellish. Nothing worked. I did CC for weeks, months. I tried every other option but leaving him was the only thing, and it never worked. Then he got to 18 months had his own bed so would just wake and get into my bed.

Sorry for the daft questions. Very new to this.

I agree, that I've heard no suggestion whatsoever of a link with cc and any kind of developmental disorder. My son has aspergers, only recently diagnosed (he's eleven). He had dreadful issues with sleep as a baby, and we tried controlled crying too. I remember reading (and believing) a book that told me to leave him for progressively longer, and that no baby would cry for longer than 3 hours. He cried all night long for 3 long horrible nights, it was horrendous, and I wish we hadn't done it. Now looking back, I wonder if the reason that strategy didn't work for him was because he was reacting to it in an aspergersy way? I'm 100% confident that it in no way caused his difficulties though. As zzzzzz says, let that worry go...

There is a really strong link between dyspraxia and sensory issues..... Infact one of the dyspraxic traits - about awareness if where you are in space is down to the proprioceptive system..... Sensory issues - ESP proprioceptive - in my experience have huge impact on sleep. DS particularly had trouble falling asleep. When we started sensory integration therapy this helped significantly. But the real icing on the cake has been getting a weighted blanket.
The nightmares - I would say this is anxiety related, which I think a lot of children with sen have ..... They are trying to cope and fit into a system that is just not designed for them.

Thank you for the replies. And thank you for making me feel better, its appreciated.

What is an OT?

Just to confuse matters I have a dyspraxic 13 year old who has always slept brilliantly (and no controlled crying either). I also have an Aspie 11 year old who did not sleep so brilliantly but benefited from a tiny amount of cc and routines to get his quota of sleep. I would definitely say that the ASD one was the one who found sleep difficult until the habit was considerably reinforced, and still wakes up the earliest of my three children. Ds1 (dyspraxic) did have his moments as a toddler of not settling or waking up, but I don't think dyspraxic children are always bad sleepers per se.