RE: Sleepy Sara you're not alone

[Guest guest]

Kim,

Not long ago I ended up in the ER with Mikey. He had slept no more than 5

hours a night for months and had gotten down to 3 hours a night with no

daytime naps. God, it was awful. We went to the ER because I was alone

with him all week while my husband worked, and I was afraid we would not

make it through the next week without hurting him. (Matt has since changed

his work schedule so he is home at night and only works 3 days a week. I

don't see him for those 3 days - he is gone before we get up and not home

till after we're in bed - but he IS home at night to help if need be and

having him home 4 days a week makes it well worth it for us.)

That's how we ended up with clonodine. It was a terrible decision to have

to make but we were really out of options at that point. We tried chloral

hydrate and valium before we got to clonodine. The clonodine is nice

because the pills are TINY and you can stick them into a jelly bean or

something to get them into him. I actually buy multivitamins that look and

taste like jelly beans, and those are what I use to get meds into him -- two

for the price of one!

If you're not quite that desperate yet go get yourself the book _Sleep

Better! A Guide To Improving Sleep For Children With Special Needs_ It is

a wonderful book full of different techniques to help ANYONE sleep better.

The methods really work great for us. It is pretty anti-med but we use the

meds occasionally to get him back on track more quickly. I have my own

health issues and can not function without adequete rest.

Good luck! And thanks for writing!

-Sara.

[Guest guest]

Hi Sara, My name is Kim. My son and is 25 months, dx:ASD since April,

receiving therapies since Jan. He is an awful sleeper. I go through my days in

a fog most of the time. Last night he was up on and off probably 4 times. I

brought him in our room and laid him next to us rubbing his back to try to calm

him back to sleep as I cursed softly under my breath. i didn't stay quiet long

because he decided to pull my hair and poke my eyes. So much for sleep. My

mother thinks I should ask the developmental pediarician for something to help

him sleep through the night.

Here's to more sleep!

Kim

A little slow...

Both boys were asleep by 8:45. Wonder of wonders! Miracle of miracles! I

didn't even drug them.

Both boys were awake at 1:30, when Mikey popped up, discovered Matt in bed

next to him, and exclaimed delightedly over and over and over again, " Papa,

baby! Papa, baby! " This is Mikey-ese for, " Daddy's here with me! " He

calls himself baby. This culminated in the demand, " Papa, mama, baby go

bye-bye! " (Forget about Gabe!)

Ugh.

This of course woke Gabe and I moved the three of us to the living room.

My good friend Clonodine had Mikey back to sleep by 2:30. Gabe, however,

had other plans.

Finally he goes back to sleep. As soon as we lay down in bed he is awake.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

It is now nearly 5am and I JUST REALIZED he is teething and needs motrin,

which I had Matt stop to get on his way home from work at 10pm.

*sigh*

-A very sleepy Sara.