Re: Re: going to bed

[Guest guest]

Rhonda,

I don't know if you have Trader Joe's where you live, but they have a 1 mg

chewable peppermint(?) flavored melatonin that both my girls like. 

Not sure what to think about the going to bed rewards; if he doesn't have

intrinsic motivation, you may have to provide it.  Several years ago my oldest

dd refused to go swimming because she obsessed about seeing people in the pool

changing room or toddlers getting changed.  However, she really likes swimming

and it was very hard for her to watch her sister take swim lessons while she was

unable to go in the pool.  Then one day, with the help of meds and therapy,

desire overcame OCD and she jumped in the pool and had a wonderful time.  When

she got out, she asked me if she would get a reward.  I told her that her

pleasure and excitement at being in the pool and overcoming her fear were the

best reward she could have.  She was a bit shocked, but she dealt with it. 

However, for other goals where she did not have intrinsic motivation (or not

enough--even if we thought she should), we did use rewards. Maybe you could put

the money in an account or

even chart it and only give it to him when he has earned enough to use it for

this goal, instead of handing it to him nightly.  Or perhaps, you could chart it

and give him the money once a week or once a month.

Hope this helps,

(mom w/OCD, almost12 yo dd w/OCD, 9.5 yo dd w/tics and possible just right

OCD)

________________________________

To:

Sent: Monday, March 26, 2012 10:33 AM

Subject: Re: Re: going to bed

I was able to cut lozenge in half and he can suck on it. He will go to bed if

really tired so I'm going to start giving him one every day whether he plans to

go to bed or not. ;-)

Therapist said I should not give son an incentive (cash reward) for going to bed

when he doesn't want to. Therapist said it should be intrinsic motivation.

However son really wants a new laptop to run his video editing program and I'd

like to offer him $10 or so for going to bed every night. What do you think? He

doesn't have any other way to earn money for laptop.

Rhonda

  Re: family rituals

   

  Mine is in a pill-form, so I am not certain about cutting it in half, but I'll

bet if you took it by your pharmacist they could tell you if that would work.

Also, I would take it one hour before you plan to be fully asleep. If you start

taking it on a daily basis, you will get into a regular routine of sleep. I

think it works better if taken daily.

 

  > > >

  > > > Another question - son has taken to staying up all night, then going to

bed sometime next afternoon, sleeping 16 hours. Problem is he pees out his bed

in a major way, meaning all bedding has to be changed and washed. Also yucks up

bathroom in middle of night when he uses it, meaning major cleaning before

daughters use in morning. How have you handled all this support stuff that is

needed to maintain your child's dysfunction? I would like to stop doing it! But

in the past he has frozen up and gotten even worse when I have tried to set down

limits.

  > > >

  > > > Thanks!

  > > > Rhonda

  > > >

  > > >