Aj mom - sleep disturbance/melatonin alternatives!

[Guest guest]

Even NT kids have sleep disturbances. I think the mel. should be a

last restort bc you do not want him to need it and it is another

thing to BUY...there is already so much of that. Save your money and

your sanity if possible. Here is how to eliminate a sleep

disturnabce in any kid. ANY kid.

Over the next week - 2 weeks if his patterns are totally erratic, but

it sounds as if they are not...see how many hours he sleeps and thta

is how much sleep he needs right now. It changes with people at

different times of the year, in response to illness, etc.

8pm and raring to go - if that is consistent- means your boy wonder

needs 8 hours. If you wear him out on a given day he may need more,

but otherwise 8 is the magic number. So tonight he goes to bed at

11pm - play him, keep him up, do not let him go to bed until he is

ready to just fall in it no fuss. Do the bedtime routine earlier in

the evening if you wish...but KEEP him up until 11 pm if possible and

only let him sleep until 7am. WAKE him up if nec and no napping

during the day in the car etc....do this for a couple of days and

then ease him into going down at 10pm, up at 7 am. If he wakes at 6

am then it is back to 11pm bedtime...CONDITION him to sleep at the

hours that are desirable with the family's schedule on the premise he

needs 8 hours. It is not realistic for a high energy kiddo to accept

lolling about for an extra two or three hours in their room/crib if

they are 8 hour sleepers. Do you go to bed at 8pm unless exhausted?

It takes a few weeks to train them to 8 or 9pm bedtimes while still

sleeping until 6 or seven am. For some that never happens, but for

most it does if they have busy days with lots of activity in them or

school. Meanwhile, do not stress this as it will go away if you

handle by accepting and respecting his unique sleep needs/pattern. *

hours is actually quite healthy and I would not make him melatonin

dependent over it...now if you see lots of behaviors and crankiness

then he may need more...but do not fret over those behaviors in the

beginning while you are re setting his little clock. Let me know how

it goes. We did it last night for Matt, our son, bc we were sick of

the 3am wake up and let's go nonsense. TO bed at 10 pm last night

once he was just DONE, done without a peep, slept til 7 am this and

woke up happy, but a little crabby...the crabbiness will go away in

the next few days. This is what we all do on trips to adjust to time

zone changes if you pause to think about it. It is a good

skill/approach to use instead of a drug, the dosage you will just hve

to keep upping. THere is no flex in that, and when you need him to

sleep and wake is going to change many times over many years....so

give this a go. If he is the type who cannot a go to bed or keeps

getting up then write me as I have strategies for that too...God

Bless. Di