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Max's Mum

Sleep issues in Autistic 4 year old

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We are having major sleep issues at the moment with our little boy who is 4 and has autism.

 

He appears tired from around 7.00pm but just will not go to sleep - sometimes he is still up and raring to go around 10pm :( .

 

We've always had a non-stressful bedtime routine, story in bed, lights out and sleep by 8pm at the latest, usually earlier. But it's all gone to pot recently. We just don't know what to do with him. Nothing has changed, but yet he just won't go to sleep.

 

I do think he needs more sleep than he is getting though as he often falls asleep at nursery in the afternoons following a bad night and this morning was almost hysterical when I had to wake him and get him ready for nursery.

 

Am at my wits end, does anybody have any suggestions?

 

Many thanks

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Hi

I really sympathise with you >:D<<'> I had this problem with Sam when he was around the same age,it also came out of the blus in that he had always gone to bed on time and woke up on time,then suddenly he wasnt sleeping well.I just kept being consistent with him always sticking to the same bed time no matter what and always following the same routine.If he came down or went to another room I would go and put him back to bed.It is a system supernanny uses,but my mum actually suggested it as supernanny wasnt on then.It only lasted two weeks though.On the first three nights I must have put him to bed at least 40times each night and he probably fell asleep around 1am.

 

My eldest son often falls asleep late but he remains in bed,so I think as long as he remains in bed he will eventually go off to sleep.Its when they not in bed esp. when parents allow them to fall asleep on the sofa or elsewhere that the problem will become worse.

 

My third son Dan,goes to bed on time but then he wakes up between 2 and 5 times in the night sometimes he lies awake in bed the whole night talking to himself.Yet he is never tired never falls asleep during the day.

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I'm having exactly the same problems with my 4 year old daughter at the moment too!! She was exactly the same, bedtime at 7pm, story and lights out and usually she would be asleep within half an hour.

 

I have a theory and I could be wrong but this behaviour started the day the clocks changed, as soon as it was still light at bedtime the troubles began. Fortunately once she is asleep she sleeps right through but I realised after a couple of weeks that i also had this problem last year during the summer period. It could be just a coincidence but like yourself, nothing has changed apart from that. Even moving bedtime to slightly later and having blackout blinds makes no difference, it's very frustrating because like you I don't know what to do!

 

Bedtimes used to be sooooo easy but now she has tantrums because she doesn't want to go to bed, even if i let her stay downstairs they continue. I try not to engage with her and let her ride out the storm but eventually I have to try and put her back up again and it starts all over again :wallbash:

 

If anyone has any ideas I would be truly grateful!!

 

Clare

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fully empathise here too, DD3 is often still raring at 10pm and will also start her day at 5am every day, we have taught her to stay quiet in her room til 7am, but sometimes she night wanders which is a danger in itself.

 

Night before last she started her day at 2.30am!

 

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Hi there this all sounds so familiar to us as we have a 3 year old boy with autism, he will not settle at night till at 8.30pm at the earliest but is asleep most nights within 20 minutes and then gets carried to bed he has just stopped sleeping in a cot and now is sleeping on a mattress on the floor as his bed is to high and unsafe for him so following chats with hv the floor was suggested as a safety reason. The problem we have is that he wakes frequently during the night at least twice a night and he has to be brought downstairs to get him back to sleep as he makes to much noise upstairs and disturbs his brother. We are both now physically exhausted from having little sleep and disturbed nights any help or suggestions would be great to hear from you all.

Anna A and A

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We have always had problems with DD AS/ADHD when the clocks change - it is as though her body clock cannot cope with the different time

 

We also have problems with the lighter nights as she would never accept that it was bedtime while light outside - a particular problem in the summer here in Sweden as it does not really get dark between May and August

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Hi, my son was/is exactly the same, i spoke to his Pead and she prescribed melatonin for him. Its a natural medication and helps him drop off (which is where the problem lies) she seemed to think it was common with some children who have autism as they dont produce enough of it themselves. Anyway he has 3mg every night 30 mins before bedtime and it works very well for him.

Edited by brooke

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Yes, pretty much the same experience/solution here as detailed in Justine 1's post - just a matter of putting him back into bed every time and having to do that for as long as it tekes until they get the message. It is exhausting, but exhausting and finite, whereas all the other strategies are exhausting and open-ended :(

With my son I effectively 'camped out' on the landing outside his door... going to bed and getting him to sleep was more time demanding (but at least I was only missing telly/whatever) than night time waking, but it was the middle of the night/early morning bits that really did me in. On top of that he used to vomit quite regularly from his bowel disorder/stomach problems, so if it wasn't waking up that, erm, woke him up it was projectile vomiting that meant clean sheets, scrubbed carpets and walls and all of that palaver too!

From what you've written the night-time routines were fairly well established until recently, so i guess (hope) that reinforcing and getting back to that will be a lot quicker than starting from scratch, but the longer the 10 o'clock bit goes on for the harder it will get.

 

L&P

 

BD :D

 

OH - re Puffin's post - lighter evenings. Very good point - you could try a blackout lining curtain or something like that it his usual curtains aren't keeping the daylight out.

 

:D

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Hi, my son was/is exactly the same, i spoke to his Pead and she prescribed melatonin for him. Its a natural medication and helps him drop off (which is where the problem lies) she seemed to think it was common with some children who have autism as they dont produce enough of it themselves. Anyway he has 3mg every night 30 mins before bedtime and it works very well for him.

 

Hi there we have thought about Melatonin but are unsure if it will work for Liam as we don't have a problem getting Liam to sleep at bedtime the problem we have is that he wakes at least once or twice a night and needs us to help him get back to sleep. What kind of affect does the Melatonin have on your son, does he sleep all night when he has had a dose of Melatonin or does he still wake during the night. Sorry for all the questions

A and A

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Hi A and A

Since having melatonin my ds doesnt wake up as much as he used to in the night. He still does wake up in the middle of the night sometimes but it happens more when he is anxious about something. Once he is awake though he doesnt go back to sleep, so i think the melatonin is more for helping him get off to sleep He has had melatonin for about 3yrs now though and has no side affects. You could always ring you Pead and see what they suggest. Its so difficult to function with little sleep there is no right or wrong answer i think its just whats best for your child and you. Hope that helps >:D<<'>

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Sleep sleep and the lack of it. I completely symphathise with you on this as I have suffered this greatly. My son who is 7 got diagnosed about 2 years ago with As. I still remember vividly to this day, he was about 3, I put him to bed at 7 as usual, have always had routine, bathtime, storytime lights dim and bed, for a week he slept at 11, I was distruaght at the time especially that i was expecting DS2. We wanted the transistion to be as smooth as possible and we involved him in all the preparation for the baby, we read stories, but maybe he was unsettled because the baby was coming. I would definately say when the nights are light it does seem cruel to send them off to bed at 730, I have blackout curtains and dimmer switch so that is good, youngest sleeps at 7 without any problems (touch wood), oldest sleeps at 830 and gets up at 730, I wish he had 12 hours because he is so knackered in am., My son does not get anything for it, I tried lavender drops( pure lavender) in a cotton wool and inside a pillow, I have also tried meditation for relaxation, but this normally takes 1hr, and when you got the ironing its not so practical. I have also tried massage with lavender, this has helped. Yes it is difficult but try and look after yourself as well.

 

kind regards

j

 

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Thank you all so much for your messages, it's kind of comforting to know there are others in the same boat!

 

I've had a little bit of success with using stickers as bribery to get him to stay in his room the past couple of nights - he's been out once or twice but I've either been returning him straightaway or just saying "Max bed!" and he scuttles back off :lol:. This hasn't made much difference to the time he's been going to sleep (around 9pm) but at least he hasn't been up and down the stairs like a yo-yo!

 

We have blackout blinds and his room is pretty dark so it's not the light affecting him I don't think.

 

I have been considering speaking to his paed about melatonin, might do so if it doesn't improve.

 

Thanks again :)

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Hi Max's Mum

 

Just to let you know that we are really struggling with sleep here too. My son is almost 7 and this has been a problem for a while .. he says that he is worried about bad dreams and monsters .. I think that things play on his mind an awful lot .. he spends a lot of his time memorising things in bed .. stories, adverts, things that he has seen on tv and times tables. I don't think that his brain ever stops. I had never heard of melatonin, I would definitely try this. I think that maybe his concentration and attitude problems may be better if has was'nt so short of sleep.

 

Good luck, I really hope that things get better soon

xxx

 

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