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SN children

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Original poster

Had enough of sleepless nights, how can i get help (today)?

22 replies

Marne · 01/12/2009 08:00

Dd2 fell asleep at 7.30 which is early for her, she then woke at 11pm and started flicking light switches, turning on the TV and was soon wide awake, by 3.30am i had had enough and put her to bed screaming, eventually dh gave in and got up with her and at 4.30 managed to get her back to sleep on the sofa in front of the tv.
She's now awake and very sleepy, she has to go to nursery this morning, she has had so much time off with sleepyness and colds, i can't keep her off because i feel guilty as the nursery staff have orginized a 1:1 for her. I also need a break from her.

She has been refered to a sleep specialist but this could take months before we see anyone.

How can i get to see someone today?, should i phone her pead?

I don't think i can cope with another night like last night , its effecting all of us, even dd1 was awake in the night and got upset.

OP posts:

sodit · 01/12/2009 08:50

sorry to hear you are having such a crap time of it. I know some on here have melatonin (sp?) prescribed so maybe a phonecall to the paed would help.
Ds1 doesnt have sleep issues now (touch wood) but i remmember i used to hear him giggling in the night(he doesnt come and wake us up even in the morning he waits to be called) this all seemed to stop around the time he went gluten free ans switched to goats milk. Dont know if a co-incidence or not.

bigdonna · 01/12/2009 10:11

i was told by pead on friday you can get melatonin from your gp,i would ring them and explain that shes not sleeping and you need help?.good luck my ds who is 12 has just been recommende melatonin so hopefully we will all get some sleep my ds currently sleeps 1pm-9am.

staryeyed · 01/12/2009 11:09

We have got big issues with DS1 (4.7) sleep as well. we use melatonin but it only helps to get them asleep it doesn't necessarily keep them asleep which is the case with DS1. He will go to sleep at 8pm and wake at 12ish now (used to be 3 am) What we try to be careful of is that we dont reward any of his night waking behaviour and reinforce the behaviour. If he gets out of bed we take him straight back. If he is upset we comfort him (pats or cuddles) but we dont talk to him or engage with him. The light stays off. Also we send ds to school even if he is tired or not so that we can keep his routine. (someone warned me that it can turn into a behavioural issue with not sleeping to stay off school later on)

We started a bad habit of giving him milk to settle himself to sleep which worked but his teeth have started to suffer so we are trying to wean him off.

glittery · 01/12/2009 11:28

they can also prescribe Phenergan (promethazine hydrochloride) its more commonly used for allergic conditions but can also be used as a short term sedative and might be easier/quicker to get than Melatonin as we used to have to get that made up at a hospital pharmacy

2shoes · 01/12/2009 11:49

melatonin is brilliant
dd has been on it for about 4 months and it hs changed our lives(she has insomnia des to other meds) we now sleep, so I would ask for that.
we tried over the counter Phenergan years ago with ds(nt but going through a stage iynwim) and it made him really hyper the next day,

sarah293 · 01/12/2009 12:26

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2shoes · 01/12/2009 12:29

didn't affect dd's though(showing both sides)

Original poster

Marne · 01/12/2009 12:42

Thank you.

Can i get melatonin from my GP or does it have to be from her pead?

I tried to get hold of the pead this morning by going to the surgery where dd see;s her, i was told i need a referal to see the pead so i now have to go to the GP to get a referal (which could take weeks).

We used phenergan on her sister but she seemed to suffer the next day, i don't really want to use it on dd2.

Riven- so sorry you are going through this too, its so hard, i felt like dropping dd2 off at the doctors and saying 'if you dont give her anything to help her sleep i am going to leave her here and you can put up with it'. .

OP posts:

mysonben · 01/12/2009 14:22

Is your dd still having daytime naps at all?
DS up to age 2.5 was a nightmare, his usual drop off time was around 12 or 1 am most nights! He'd be in bed rather late around about 9pm, but still couldn't get to sleep.
Then we decided to stop his afternoon nap ...huge improvement. Now he is 4 and sleeps much better, but if he manages to grab only 15 mins nap on the sly, then he'll be awake again until very late.
Failing that, as the others have said give melatonin a try.
Good luck

sickofsocalledexperts · 01/12/2009 14:37

Marne, where are you? I could always post you some melatonin pills as getting it through GP may take time. It is available in all chemists in the US so I have a load from when family members go to the US on holiday.

sickofsocalledexperts · 01/12/2009 14:39

Also, you could try medised as it has drowsy properties?

staryeyed · 01/12/2009 16:44

You can order melatonin online without a prescription- (our pead told us that). Id be careful about where you get it from though.

Original poster

Marne · 01/12/2009 17:07

mysonben- she doesn't have naps, we cut them out over a year ago because she was to awake come bed time. She is doing more sessions at nursery so she may be over tired.

Sickof- i am in the uk (SW), i have tried giving medised but it seems to give her a bad tummy.

I have an appointment with the nurse tomorrow at my GP'S surgery to see how i go about getting melatonin, hopefully they will say i can get it through the surgery and not the pead.

Her main problem (up until last night) is getting to sleep, sometimes it takes 3 hours for her to settle. I think last night the late nights caught up with her so she fell asleep early which messed her body clock up resulting in her being wide awake by midnight.

If i can get her in a routine of going to sleep by 8pm using melatonin hen i think we will have less nights like last night.

OP posts:

hairyclaireyfairy · 01/12/2009 17:53

We have an ongoing battle with our ds who is 8 and has severe autism.
What has helped us is to make his room as low stim as possible, no light bulb so no flicking just a bed and a wardrobe. Yes seems cruel but beats having him stimulated for several hours before he falls asleep.He regually wakes at night around 2am and comes downstairs, same down here tv gets the ariel taken out computer unplugged nothing for him to do I know from bitter experience that if we let him watch tv one night he expects it all the time.
Yes ask about melatonin, has'nt worked for us nor chloral hydrate another sedative prescribed by pead may be useful just to see if a routine can be established.
You have my sympathy sleep deprivation is turture, if you can try and rest in the day. Best of luck.

Original poster

Marne · 01/12/2009 18:02

hairy- the problem we have is dd2 has not got her own room and has to sleep in the sitting room, we are trying to find a 3 bed house through the council or private so dd2 can have her own room. At the moment our situation is far from ideal (its hell) as dd2 is in the same room as the tv and other distractions ,we have ASD proofed the room so she cant hurt herself and put a stair gate on the door.

So i can't really blame her for not sleeping, it must be hard for her to switch off in a room which she plays in during the day.

It upsetting me that i can't provide her with her own room/space to relax in .

OP posts:

hairyclaireyfairy · 01/12/2009 18:08

ahh bloody hell, thats tough.
Have you got ot involement? They should be able to get your priority upped with council housing, it's shit I know but take good care of yourself too.

MumOfThreeMonkeys · 01/12/2009 18:09

my dd has been on melatonin since august and it has saved my life! and my marriage, she sleeps about ten hours now right through! i know that it does not work for all children, but is worth a try. i phoned my pead and said that i was not coping with lack of sleep, she faxed a letter to my gp and i got the prescription that afternoon. had to wait a few more days thou cause the chemist's have to order it in because its so expensive.

Original poster

Marne · 01/12/2009 19:18

No OT , apparently they don't see children with ASD in our area , we have been made priority thanks to letters from dd's pead and GP.

MumofThree- i hope i can get hold of melatonin that easily, hopefully i can get the nurse/gp to contact dd's pead so we can get it ASAP. I think i will just have to refuse to leave the surgery with out any (by lying on the floor and kicking my legs) .

I am trying to keep her awake until 8pm tonight and hope she will be so tired from last night and sleep through (fingers crossed).

OP posts:

MumOfThreeMonkeys · 02/12/2009 08:57

how did last night go marne? did she sleep through? If i was you i would demand melatonin. my gp said no to me , but just a call to the pead and i got it

Original poster

Marne · 02/12/2009 14:28

We had a good night , i managed to keep her awake (well she was hyper even though she barely slept the night before), i managed to knock up a bed time schedual for her and stuck it to her bed, she studied it for a while and at 8.30 she went through the pictures on her schedual and went to b ed, she slept through till 7am (the best she has done for months) .

We will try it again to night but she won't be as tired after such a long sleep last night.

I went to see the nurse this morning and she's going to get the HV to phone dd's pead to see if we can either go and see her or get Melatonin straight away.

OP posts:

sodit · 02/12/2009 14:35

glad you had a good night hopefully the melatonin will help as well as her schedule

Quinny1 · 07/12/2009 16:18

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