Autism / Autism Spectrum Support Group
Autism is classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder which manifests itself in markedly abnormal social interaction, communication ability, patterns of interests, and patterns of behavior. Although the specific etiology of autism is unknown, many researchers suspect that autism results from genetically mediated vulnerabilities to environmental triggers.
My daughter is 5 1/2 yrs. old. She is Autistic and non-verbal. We have had some problems with her waking up at night off and on since she was diagnosed with Autism in April 2007. She goes through stages on this. There have been some pretty long periods of time when months would go by, and this wasn't much of a problem. Maybe she would wake up and laugh a little bit, maybe staying awake for about 40 min., and then going back to sleep. She learned at age 2 to go to sleep in her own bed, and this wasn't a problem in the past. Recently things have gotten really BAD!!! Her sleeplessness started becoming more frequent starting about June of this year. I should mention that we have been giving her Melatonin (1 tsp. ea night, most nights) for about 2 yrs.
Recently my daughter has been waking up in the middle of the night, and having a seemingly impossible time getting back to sleep. She wants my husband or I to either lay in bed with her or preferably to get into our bed. We have done this a few times out of desperation, not knowing how else to get her back to sleep!! : l We have really tried to avoid this, not wanting to get a bad thing started. Another weird thing is that she insists on having the light on. She has never had any problem in the past sleeping with just a night light. About ten days ago, we had to take a trip and stayed in motels for 2 nights in a row. We don't go on trips like this often, but when we do, we usually let her sleep with her dad (and my son is in the other bed next to me). This sounds weird, but we wouldn't want my daughter to have a meltdown and bother the people in another room near us. This is especially a concern because our daughter is Autistic. If we were just traveling with a son (he's not Autistic) we coudl reason with him and explain that "No, you are going to sleep by yourself. You're a big kid". With an Autistic child, it's not easy. I think going to the motels somehow screwed things up in her mind -but I'm not sure how.
The doctor suggested that we give her 3-4 times more melatonin than we had been. That doesn't seem to be working. There is a more powerful medicine that we are considering trying to get if things don't get better -but I would really hate to even get her started on something like that. We thought about just locking her door, as we did when my son was 2 and we were trying to get him to sleep in his own bed. The problem with our daughter is that, being Autistic (although she is intelligent) she might not understand why were doing it. We can't reason with her, saying something like she is a big girl, and can sleep in her own bed by herself. Also, when she turns her light on, I think that is like she's saying "If the light is on, that meand no night night!" I really don't think she's afraid of the dark, but anything is possible. It's so hard because she can't tell us.
This has got to stop!!!!!!! The other night, she woke up at midnight, and didn't get to sleep until 5:30 -and that was only because we finally let her sleep in our bed!!!!!!!!! Last night she woke up at 1 am (after having been given a large amt. of Melatonin at bed time). My husband allowed her to sleep in our bed, and I layed in her bed. Does anyone have any ideas for how we might be able to solve this problem?!!!! Our daughter needs to learn (all over again, I guess) how to sleep in her own bed. -And we need help with the problem with her waking up too. I am looking into getting her a weighted blanket. I think that could help.
Thanks
Wendy
Recently my daughter has been waking up in the middle of the night, and having a seemingly impossible time getting back to sleep. She wants my husband or I to either lay in bed with her or preferably to get into our bed. We have done this a few times out of desperation, not knowing how else to get her back to sleep!! : l We have really tried to avoid this, not wanting to get a bad thing started. Another weird thing is that she insists on having the light on. She has never had any problem in the past sleeping with just a night light. About ten days ago, we had to take a trip and stayed in motels for 2 nights in a row. We don't go on trips like this often, but when we do, we usually let her sleep with her dad (and my son is in the other bed next to me). This sounds weird, but we wouldn't want my daughter to have a meltdown and bother the people in another room near us. This is especially a concern because our daughter is Autistic. If we were just traveling with a son (he's not Autistic) we coudl reason with him and explain that "No, you are going to sleep by yourself. You're a big kid". With an Autistic child, it's not easy. I think going to the motels somehow screwed things up in her mind -but I'm not sure how.
The doctor suggested that we give her 3-4 times more melatonin than we had been. That doesn't seem to be working. There is a more powerful medicine that we are considering trying to get if things don't get better -but I would really hate to even get her started on something like that. We thought about just locking her door, as we did when my son was 2 and we were trying to get him to sleep in his own bed. The problem with our daughter is that, being Autistic (although she is intelligent) she might not understand why were doing it. We can't reason with her, saying something like she is a big girl, and can sleep in her own bed by herself. Also, when she turns her light on, I think that is like she's saying "If the light is on, that meand no night night!" I really don't think she's afraid of the dark, but anything is possible. It's so hard because she can't tell us.
This has got to stop!!!!!!! The other night, she woke up at midnight, and didn't get to sleep until 5:30 -and that was only because we finally let her sleep in our bed!!!!!!!!! Last night she woke up at 1 am (after having been given a large amt. of Melatonin at bed time). My husband allowed her to sleep in our bed, and I layed in her bed. Does anyone have any ideas for how we might be able to solve this problem?!!!! Our daughter needs to learn (all over again, I guess) how to sleep in her own bed. -And we need help with the problem with her waking up too. I am looking into getting her a weighted blanket. I think that could help.
Thanks
Wendy
deleted_user
oh boy do i wish i had the answers for you. but i am in the same boat as you are. my son is 11 years old and i cant get him to fall asleep and when he finally falls asleep its like 1-2 in the morning. then he will wake up every two hours after that sleep walking and playing musical beds. half the time he doesnt even remember waking up. others times he will wake up at 5 ready to go. i am clueless on what to do. i am against meds like you are and i dont know where to begin. its so funny you mentioned the weighted blanket because i have aready decided i am making him one as well. if you do sew i would definatley make one, it will save you money. i wish i could help some more. i hope other people will reply to this and help us both. thanks for posting. i wil say some prayers for you.
deleted_user
ok i did a little research and we are trying tonight....the johnson and johnson baby wash bedtime one...its purple it has the scent of lavender in it which is soppose to help. i also got camamille and mint tea with honey. going to try that tonight as well. i know they are minor things to try but i really want to try to do this the natural way...is Melatonin safe for kids? so hot bath, tea and a story tonight see how that works. i will let you know.
deleted_user
OK some people might not agree with this but after my husband and I almost went insane from not sleeping (literally) we finally bought a cot at walmart and put it right next to our bed. Then when my daughter would wake up I would tell her to climb into her cot and that was her place if she woke up. We stopped letting her into our bed all together when we did this. We really played up her cot when we got it so she would think it was special and NOT to keep her out of our bed. So it stopped being a fight. About 1 am every night she would come to our room, wake me up and I would say, go lay on your cot and try to go to sleep. Sometimes she would go right back to sleep other times she would quietly lay they but it helped us to be able to get some sleep because she was near us but not in bed with us after we had already broken her from that. This may not be the best answer, however, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING RIGHT NOW IS FOR YOU ALL TO GET GOOD SLEEP!!!Dealing with autism when you are exhausted is 100 times harder! So really, you do whatever it is you need to do, so that you and your husband can get sleep. I promise you she will grow out of it. It took my daughter about a year to stop coming into the cot but she did and one day she said, "put away, no need" I was like "OK sweetie, that is such a big girl decision!" So try to hang in there, but seriously get the sleep you need it is soo important!!
deleted_user
you will never believe what i tried! rememer i said i as going to make a weighted blanket? well money situation is putting that on hold. so my husband and i were deperate to do somehing for him now. he is 11 years old and weighs 102 lbs so dont know if this is going to work for your 6 year old but its worth a try. i took the futon mattress and had him use it like a blanket.....yes on top of him. he LOVED it! slept straight through the night with the other items i said i got, the tea and bubble stuff and the melatonin. 5mg. not sure which one is doing the trick but i do know he LOVES the futon mattress weight on top of him. it makes him feel secure. well maybe this is something that could help your daughter even the weighted blanket is worth a shot. let me know how it goes ok?
deleted_user
I still have this in spurts with my 9 year old son. Ususlly now it;s mornings, so I don;t mind, but still occassionally nights too, and I am of the mind as long as I can get some sleep..... I tollerate it, it's the roaming of the halls and playing in the bathroom, and the tantrumming at 3 am I can't take, but the sleeping in my bed, so long as he sleeps and doesn't flip/flop or giggle, and tallk or whatever... as for sleeping with the light on in his room, if that's what it takes to get him to stay, I am for it, I tried lower watt bulbs to not waste as much electricty, and now have LED bulbs, so he's using almost the same power as a night light.... you gotta do what you gotta do, and while I don't think giving in is a great idea, sleep is very important, can't fight the battles fo the day if tired from the ones at night.... maybe send them back to their room every third of fourth night .....
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