sleep and developmental delay

[dontmentionit]

Is there a link between poor sleep and developmental delay? Any one know why there is a link?
Over 3 half years of getting up in the night. Enough said! Ive tried a weighted blanket that worked for a bit (couple of weeks). Any suggestions? x

My ds is globally delayed. When speaking to his paed she didn't seem to think there was a link between delays and sleep and I had to do sleep training with him. Do you know why there is a link ie what causes it?

Well it is an age old problem sorting the difference between correlation and cause-and-effect. As in '95% of people die in bed, so I think I'll sleep on the floor'.

Many kids with SEN have sleep problems and many don't.

There was some research about hormones, I vaguely recall, so the sleep hormone melatonin is sometimes prescribed - although I heard cherry juice has some natural melatonin.

The some kids have sensory issues, and so are much lighter sleepers as they are over-sensitive to noise so can be woken by a bee outside the door. actually my 50+ Aspergers relative is like this.

Some kids are just hyperactive and need a lot less sleep than most people.

I wish I could say something more helpful, but hopefully someone here will come up with more ideas

Good Luck

Thank you. Yes he has sensory issues too.so makes sense what you are saying. Will try and get gp to prescribe melatonin just wondered if I knew the cause I could help using alternative ways.

Well if you know which are the relevant sensory issues for dc (you know if it is eg sound, light, etc) then it makes sense to look at those.

I had a friend who had to change the ben ten curtains to plain blackout blinds. And someone else said having 'white noise' helped drown out the odd random noise that caused waking.
Some kids tolerate ear defenders - but many don't.

It is going to be some trial and error I guess.

If you try the sleep programme they suggest and it doesn't work then at least you can say you have and it doesn't work!

Thank you for your post .Sleep training was to ignore him when he wakes up. which I have done. is there a special white noise machine which you buy? He is a seeker as in sensory issues so perhaps sleeps lighter? - I don't know the sensory bit is quite new to me.

Hi, I sleep with my ds and mostly he sleeps through the night. I have spoken to other parents who are doing the same as it is the only way their dc's will sleep all night.

Could it be anxiety about being alone at night?

Thank you for your post. He wouldn't even stay in bed with us - he doesn't seem to sit still generally he would be up and down like a yo yo bit thank you for the suggestion . Went to gp this morning she has to refer ds back to paed. Given him sedative in form of antihistamine. But suggested that I put him to bed 9 at night (he's 3) apart from that she was really supportive.