Sleep Issues

[Guest guest]

I am brand new on this list and my 12-year-old daughter was JUST dx'd with

asperger's, but she's had sleep problems all her life (doctors have seemed

uninterested), so by trial and error we found that we couldn't force her to

sleep, but we could get her to be in bed so the rest of us could relax and get

our sleep. We invested in a lot of stories on CD (actually, most were on

cassettes -- not that long ago!) and got others out of the library, and it took

some encouragement in the beginning, but eventually she was happy to go to bed,

look at books and listen to CDs. She has rarely gone through the waking-up-early

thing, but when she has, we asked her to do the same in the morning as well.

This is still her routine, and nowadays she gets upset if we try to change it --

she goes to bed, puts a CD on so it plays over and over and over, and lies there

listening (often for hours) until she finally falls asleep.

I figure it's not as good as sleeping, but at least it's resting, and the rest

of us are able to do what we need to do.

Deirdre

>

> We used " clonidine " - a prescription med for sleep issues. Sleep issues can

be tricky. Some kids get to sleep ok but don't stay that way. Others can't get

to sleep but sleep fine once they do. Talk to a good developmental ped about

things and hopefully, you can work together to figure out what will work for

your ds.

>

> My now 14 yo ds (hfa) uses a combo of clonidine and melatonin to get to sleep.

And we've also had to realize he just needs less sleep than a typical kid as

well. But still, he does sleep every night with the meds. We used clonidine

for my older ds as well (hfa also) when he was a little guy and it worked great

for him as well.

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Roxanna

> “Our lives begin to end the day webecome silent about things that matter.â€

- Luther King, Jr.

>

>

>

>

>

> ( ) Sleep issues

>

>

>

>

>

> Hi-

>

> I am desperate for suggestions to help with our sleep issues. This has been

going on for so many years that I have not had a full nights sleep in over 6

years. (and I am sure I am not alone here).

>

> My 6 yr old son has Asperger's, but my 3 yr old does not. However- we all

suffer from my 6 yr old getting up way too early (by 5:30 or 6 am most days) and

he stalls at night when it is time to go to bed. I have tried moving bedtimes

around thinking he will sleep in but the later he goes to bed, the earlier he

gets up!

> So- we set bedtime at 6:30. We do the same routine each night and sometimes

allow him to have a snack before bed.

> I am just at my wits end lately. I am depressed and the lack of sleep has

negatively effected some other health issues I have. I feel like I am going to

end up in the hospital soon if I don't get some good sleep. I try to go to bed

early too- but I need some time to myself and to just get all the things done

that I couldn't do during the day when he was awake. Some days- and please

don't judge me for this- this is hard to admit... some days I fantasize about

packing up and taking my younger son with me and just leave and go somewhere

else far far away. How awful is that? I am also weaning off the

anti-depressant Effexor and it is really really awful but I need to go off it.

I am on this vicious cycle of little quality sleep at night followed by a lot of

coffee in the AM and then I crash in the afternoon and yet I can't fall asleep

or stay asleep at night.

> Melatonin worked for me- but only the sublingual and the health food store

near me is out! So I bought the regular kind and have had terrible nightmares.

>

> I just don't understand why he can't sleep more. He is a totally different

kid when he gets about 12 hrs of sleep- but that rarely happens. I am so

tired... i just wish he could sleep in a little more... and settle down at night

too.

>

[Guest guest]

I'm fixing to start on the melatonin for Adam. He doesn't get to sleep until way late and it's way to hard to get him up in the morning. I wish we could work with his natural sleep rhythm, but school starts too early for that.From: Roxanna <MadIdeas@...> Sent: Thu, February 3, 2011 7:26:20

PMSubject: Re: ( ) Sleep issues

We used "clonidine" - a prescription med for sleep issues. Sleep issues can be tricky. Some kids get to sleep ok but don't stay that way. Others can't get to sleep but sleep fine once they do. Talk to a good developmental ped about things and hopefully, you can work together to figure out what will work for your ds.

My now 14 yo ds (hfa) uses a combo of clonidine and melatonin to get to sleep. And we've also had to realize he just needs less sleep than a typical kid as well. But still, he does sleep every night with the meds. We used clonidine for my older ds as well (hfa also) when he was a little guy and it worked great for him as well.

Roxanna

“Our lives begin to end the day we

become silent about things that matter.†- Luther King, Jr.

( ) Sleep issues

Hi-

I am desperate for suggestions to help with our sleep issues. This has been going on for so many years that I have not had a full nights sleep in over 6 years. (and I am sure I am not alone here).

My 6 yr old son has Asperger's, but my 3 yr old does not. However- we all suffer from my 6 yr old getting up way too early (by 5:30 or 6 am most days) and he stalls at night when it is time to go to bed. I have tried moving bedtimes around thinking he will sleep in but the later he goes to bed, the earlier he gets up!

So- we set bedtime at 6:30. We do the same routine each night and sometimes allow him to have a snack before bed.

I am just at my wits end lately. I am depressed and the lack of sleep has negatively effected some other health issues I have. I feel like I am going to end up in the hospital soon if I don't get some good sleep. I try to go to bed early too- but I need some time to myself and to just get all the things done that I couldn't do during the day when he was awake. Some days- and please don't judge me for this- this is hard to admit... some days I fantasize about packing up and taking my younger son with me and just leave and go somewhere else far far away. How awful is that? I am also weaning off the anti-depressant Effexor and it is really really awful but I need to go off it. I am on this vicious cycle of little quality sleep at night followed by a lot of coffee in the AM and then I crash in the afternoon and yet I can't fall asleep or stay asleep at night.

Melatonin worked for me- but only the sublingual and the health food store near me is out! So I bought the regular kind and have had terrible nightmares.

I just don't understand why he can't sleep more. He is a totally different kid when he gets about 12 hrs of sleep- but that rarely happens. I am so tired... i just wish he could sleep in a little more... and settle down at night too.

[Guest guest]

We tried Melatonin on my son too. It would get him to sleep but not keep him asleep. Once we removed the Casein from his diet, he started sleeping. Falls asleep fast, stays asleep and sleeps hard. He's almost 6 and this has been going on since October 2010! So happy with this change.From: Fawn Kazmierczak <lostfranklingirl@...>To:

Sent: Fri, February 4, 2011 9:33:24 AMSubject: Re: ( ) Sleep issues

I'm fixing to start on the melatonin for Adam. He doesn't get to sleep until way late and it's way to hard to get him up in the morning. I wish we could work with his natural sleep rhythm, but school starts too early for that.From: Roxanna <MadIdeas@...> Sent: Thu, February 3, 2011 7:26:20

PMSubject: Re: ( ) Sleep issues

We used "clonidine" - a prescription med for sleep issues. Sleep issues can be tricky. Some kids get to sleep ok but don't stay that way. Others can't get to sleep but sleep fine once they do. Talk to a good developmental ped about things and hopefully, you can work together to figure out what will work for your ds.

My now 14 yo ds (hfa) uses a combo of clonidine and melatonin to get to sleep. And we've also had to realize he just needs less sleep than a typical kid as well. But still, he does sleep every night with the meds. We used clonidine for my older ds as well (hfa also) when he was a little guy and it worked great for him as well.

Roxanna

“Our lives begin to end the day we

become silent about things that matter.†- Luther King, Jr.

( ) Sleep issues

Hi-

I am desperate for suggestions to help with our sleep issues. This has been going on for so many years that I have not had a full nights sleep in over 6 years. (and I am sure I am not alone here).

My 6 yr old son has Asperger's, but my 3 yr old does not. However- we all suffer from my 6 yr old getting up way too early (by 5:30 or 6 am most days) and he stalls at night when it is time to go to bed. I have tried moving bedtimes around thinking he will sleep in but the later he goes to bed, the earlier he gets up!

So- we set bedtime at 6:30. We do the same routine each night and sometimes allow him to have a snack before bed.

I am just at my wits end lately. I am depressed and the lack of sleep has negatively effected some other health issues I have. I feel like I am going to end up in the hospital soon if I don't get some good sleep. I try to go to bed early too- but I need some time to myself and to just get all the things done that I couldn't do during the day when he was awake. Some days- and please don't judge me for this- this is hard to admit... some days I fantasize about packing up and taking my younger son with me and just leave and go somewhere else far far away. How awful is that? I am also weaning off the anti-depressant Effexor and it is really really awful but I need to go off it. I am on this vicious cycle of little quality sleep at night followed by a lot of coffee in the AM and then I crash in the afternoon and yet I can't fall asleep or stay asleep at night.

Melatonin worked for me- but only the sublingual and the health food store near me is out! So I bought the regular kind and have had terrible nightmares.

I just don't understand why he can't sleep more. He is a totally different kid when he gets about 12 hrs of sleep- but that rarely happens. I am so tired... i just wish he could sleep in a little more... and settle down at night too.