Gotta love Handel. Don't have to love the fact that Steve and I walk around sleep deprived.
Sleep issues and Zach. Yeah, we got 'em. And so do many parents - but at 4 years old, I guess I thought we would be passed this. Sleep disorders/issues seem to come with the territory if you have a child with autism. 44%-83% of kids on the spectrum have some sleep issue. (Sleep problems in autism: prevalence, cause, and intervention; Richdale, Amanda).
One comment I uttered a few years ago sticks in my head and seems to pop in and out at various times. When you first start to realize your kids are growing, you get so sad. A cousin of Steve's and her beautiful baby girl just posted on facebook a comment about putting away one size of clothes and going into the next and how the tears were a'flowing. I always hated the passing of time and my kids. I can recall saying to a friend that I just wished they could stay innocent forever. And wham. I guess God did grant me my wish. I feel like I have a perpetual infant sometimes with Zach. While he has progressed, I feel like he will be forever innocent, forever an infant. There are part about this that are nice, and parts that, well, make me wonder how we will handle the rest of our lives.
I feel like I will never have adequate sleep again. At this point, we are looking into getting a pediatric endocrinologist involved at the recommendation of Yale. Zach's sleep patterns are unusual, he has never required a lot of sleep. But more unusual is his night-waking. I have read a lot of kids on the spectrum night-wake - so does Zach, but rather than play around he tosses and turns. He actually appears to want to sleep, but isn't able to. This in conjunction with his GI issues may have a common link.
Some people have recommended benadryl and others melatonin. We are trying to avoid both of these options right now: 1) benadryl can work just great, except for those kids who react as if they were on speed to it, and 2) melatonin slows down the digestive system, and Zach already has slow digestive motility and I have gotten used to not having him barf and really don't feel like going there right now.
The odd part about this is that once in awhile, Zach throws us a bone and sleeps through the night. The next day, we all feel amazing - vibrant, clear thinking, alert, happy. But I have learned not to get used to this feeling. It won't be there for long.
So there you have it, just another reason why you should be grateful if your child doesn't have a disability. Sleep.
So if Steve and I look like we have been up all night - we likely have been. Or recovering from some sort of interrupted sleep.
Coffee anyone??
4 comments:
Oh how I know the sleepless routine. *sigh*
I'm curious, though, about the source of your info re melatonin. Nik has significant GI issues and has never had any trouble with melatonin. Of course, the only benefit of melatoninis in helping one GET to sleep. It doesn't actually help one stay asleep. That's our challenge over here.
What other kinds of things have your tried? Just curious and wanting to swap info to see if we may have something helpful for one another...even if it is the elimination of much trial and error! LOL
(Ha! When I first typed my question about what have you TRIED, I accidentally typed TIRED. I know you can relate!)
Anyway, I was just curious about the melatonin bc I've never heard or read that anywhere before. I do know that many other meds which my son takes or has taken do have the slowing effect. UGH.
Put this comment to the wrong post. Niksmom: I actually had to ask my husband! We know it was one of the gazillion doctors -Steve was thinking GI but I don't recall that. I did a Google scholar search and couldn't confirm either. Maybe we are in the clear!!!! I know the folks at Yale are currently studying melatonin level in typical boys vs. boys with disorders.
I was just getting desperate to throw caution to the wind and try it, when the kid threw us a bone and slept 3 nights in a row. Go figure.
Ah, hopefully you'll see this comment since i'm posting a little late... Aidan is a little different in the sense that our main issue has been very early wakings (3:30-4am) as opposed to getting to sleep or middle of the night stuff.
But I can say we have tried melatonin and it didn't work for us either. What i saw was it took a certain amount of time to kick in, but as soon as it wore off after a few hours he would wake up and I mean UP...boing! but i'm sure you know how that goes...
I can say a while ago our neuro prescribed us chloral hydrate which you may want to look into. I opted no since he's already on four regular meds, i just felt like why add one that isn't specifically needed.
Other than that I've found deep pressure to help when he's totaly bonkers...i do a full body deep pressure massage that i just sort of made up, and he sleeps with a weighted blanket from www.affordabletherapysolutions.com
I do notice a difference in his ability to fall asleep/back to sleep when he doesnt have the blanket.
I've also been repeatedly told that neuro-related sleep issues get better when they hit puberty.... Yeah, that one didn't help me either.
PS- Oh yeah and I just thought of another fun parenting moment, when your friends with, like, nine-month olds try to relate to you and say "yeah, little timmy kept us up all night too..." (purely hypothetical of course, cough cough)...and you want to be like "um...yeah well that's one night, and little timmy will grow out of it in a month. take my kid for a week and get back to me."
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