vlgimmelli Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 My son is on the autistic spectrum. He is 12 and lately he is having such a hard time falling asleep. He goes to bed 9:30-10pm and doesn't fall asleep until 11-11:30pm and he is tired and grumpy the next day. Help!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myboyluvsdinos Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 We have struggled with this off and on, although my kids are not on the spectrum. I noticed that if they are getting lots of exercise, that really helps. Plus, having some time to wind down before bed, with a set routine that cues their body to calm down (like read together, have a snack, brush teeth, then lights out). If all else fails for my daughter, I'll give her a small amount of melatonin (like 1/2 of a mg) 30 min. before bed for about 5 days. For her, it puts her right to sleep and doing it for about 5 days seems to make it stick. Carolyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetMissMagnolia Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 yep.....routines are great-maybe some relaxing music before bed or reading..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I remember learning in my child development classes that around the time when children are starting to go through puberty and while in puberty, their hormones are such that it is physically impossible for them to fall asleep before 11 PM. There are several studies that point to this if you would like to research further. Maybe he is hitting that point in his physical development. Is it possible for him to sleep longer in the mornings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 My youngest son is hFA. Ever since he was about two months old (he was born early and slept the first few weeks of his life) he has struggled with getting to sleep. Often he would lay awake and talk to himself. We called it his "warbling". He is still restless at bedtime, but sleeps better now than he did then. He is seven. I'm a likely Aspie, and I've struggled with getting to sleep for most of my life. If his brain is anything like mine it is very restless at bedtime. I don't just replay the days events, I lay there and problem solve over and over; things from the day, things that happened a long time ago, things that haven't happened yet. Only once my mind has finished "looping around" can I begin to relax and go to sleep. What I will do if I need to get up early (given my preferences I'd go to sleep at about one or two in the morning and be up by nine) is to make sure I drag myself out of bed early the day before and make sure I've started my bedtime routine about an hour early. That gives me the hour I need for my brain to discharge, and then I can get to sleep. I also make sure that I don't eat high protein meals for the evening either if I've got to get to sleep. General sleep things might help also. Schedule a run or moderate exercise several hours before bedtime. Thing that allow for brain relaxation are helpful (like running or swimming). Avoid any caffeine taken after noon, even if he insists that it doesn't affect him. It does. Watch out for caffeine in weird places. Make sure that he gets up at the same time every day if at all possible to get into a routine. Make sure his bedroom routine is set and followed religiously for thirty days to make a habit of falling asleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 (edited) My youngest son is hFA. Ever since he was about two months old (he was born early and slept the first few weeks of his life) he has struggled with getting to sleep. Often he would lay awake and talk to himself. We called it his "warbling". He is still restless at bedtime, but sleeps better now than he did then. He is seven. I'm a likely Aspie, and I've struggled with getting to sleep for most of my life. If his brain is anything like mine it is very restless at bedtime. I don't just replay the days events, I lay there and problem solve over and over; things from the day, things that happened a long time ago, things that haven't happened yet. Only once my mind has finished "looping around" can I begin to relax and go to sleep. Thanks for describing your personal sleep struggle! That was very helpful. My DS has Asperger's - he did the same thing you described for your DS when he was a baby ("warbling" - I like that!), and I'm thinking he probably struggles with the looping you described for yourself. His natural sleep cycle seems to be 2am-10am - which of course doesn't work too well for the rest of us, so we've been trying to help him adjust that. OP - we recently started our DS on 3mg Melatonin about an hour before bedtime. He wasn't responding to lower dosages. After doing some reading on "safe" levels of Melatonin, we decided to increase the dosage. He seems to be responding to it - at least, he's now able to fall asleep around 11pm (instead of 1am or 2am). Plan to stay at this level until we can normalize his sleep cycles and then decrease it or eliminate it altogether. ETA: a nice side-effect of the Melatonin has been that DS is MUCH calmer during the day too. He's always been rather hyperactive (bouncing off the furniture, always speaks in a super-loud voice, etc.) - but this has decreased considerably this past week since we started the 3mg Melatonin every night. I'm cautiously optimistic. :-) Edited July 22, 2011 by Dandelion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCW Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 You have had great suggestions. I only have a couple more: While completing the training to become a provider, I tried the Calming Rhythms from the Strong Institute http://www.stronginstitute.com/ on myself right before bed (I like to try things on myself before recommending them to others) and I slept better than I had in weeks. Weighted or heavy blankets can also help some children feel grounded and are calming. I have also had success with a passive rhythmic movement, but it's a little difficult to describe - if you are interested, you can pm me and I will try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyomarie Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 You have had great suggestions. I only have a couple more: While completing the training to become a provider, I tried the Calming Rhythms from the Strong Institute http://www.stronginstitute.com/ on myself right before bed (I like to try things on myself before recommending them to others) and I slept better than I had in weeks. Weighted or heavy blankets can also help some children feel grounded and are calming. I have also had success with a passive rhythmic movement, but it's a little difficult to describe - if you are interested, you can pm me and I will try. The Calming Rhythms is something I will look into for my 16ds. We've struggled for years and while we've made a couple of forays into the medical world to try to get help, to date we're not getting any suggestions that are making a difference. I, myself, have always preferred heavy blankets- I use both a down comforter & a standard quilted bedspread on my bed, even in summer. I also use flannel sheets year round. If the air conditioning is down, and I need to sleep with nothing more than a sheet, I have a very hard time falling asleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlgimmelli Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 Thank you for the great ideas and advice. I will try them all and pray..Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raceNzanesmom Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 My youngest struggles with falling asleep too. He does better with routine, plenty of exercise, low/no refined sugars or caffeine, and soft white noise at bedtime. On nights when it's likely he'll need some help, I give him 1 mg of melatonine 30 minutes before bed. If it's a night I think he'll do fine (he's had a busy day, good diet, etc), but he has a hard time falling asleep then I'll give him his melatonine after 20-30 minutes. This has helped him go to sleep faster, sleep better (deeper), and wake refreshed. It's been a win-win situation. If you try melatonine, always start with the lowest possible amount (1/4-1/2 of a 1 mg tab). Increase by that amount until you find just enough to help. Some people need more. 1 mg works perfectly for my ds. 1 1/2 mg and he had weird dreams/nightmares, a sign it was too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyg Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Another vote for Melatonin. Mine gets .5 mg sublingual (under the tongue, tastes good), and has taken this nightly from age 5 to 14. Obviously it's a winner in our house. Actually, it's been a miracle for us. Nights were a nightmare the 5 years before we discovered Melatonin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 My son who is 8 listens to Jim Weiss for a LONG time in bed, but at least he stays there now. I have thought of melatonin but just haven't tried it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCW Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 My son who is 8 listens to Jim Weiss for a LONG time in bed, but at least he stays there now. I have thought of melatonin but just haven't tried it yet. Wow, that is familiar - when ds was 8 I think he memorized Galileo and the Stargazers listening to it in bed at night. The beauty of cd players is they shut themselves off. Since he was given an ipod no such luck - I have to take it away at 9 pm or he'll listen to a good book half the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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