Question:
My son is 1,5 and he sleeps very unstable. I have tried anything, from
therapies, medication with lots of situations while looking at the child to
see wat he wants, put him into a dark and hidden place so he can relax, put
him in our own bed. Also we tried to find a solution in giffing him very
much positive impulse during the day, so we thought he will go on sleeping
like a baby, wrong. I must say he is a very nice boy who is now active
during the day but in the first months he was crying very much about 6 to 7
hours a day. He also has a lot problems with leaving me, the mother, We
realy tried a lot of therories and none of them seem to help to find the
solution of getting him sleep firmly through the night. The last
professional support I get was from a childspecialist. Her impression was
that our Boy Scott was very intelligent for a boy of his age, the patron
during the day was not the problem and also my response on his active
behaviour was completly the way she want it it to be. So here we are and
during the day everything looks very alright; he doesn't cry anymore, but in
the evening he is ten or more time awake.
Answer:
My oldest daughter was the same way. She cried all night long. We took her to a
sleep specialist at a well known Children's Hospital, where she was diagnosed
(and since, so has her sister) with Restless Leg Syndrome. Her brain was
awakening 77 times/hour-(one of the worst cases they had ever seen in a child)
and was therefore, unbearably cranky from lack of deep sleep. I'm NOT saying
this is what your child has, but a sleep specialist IS worth looking into. :)
I would second the advice that you should have your child seen. My son Joey
was an absolutely *horrible* sleeper up until about age 2 and a half years old
(which led to some very tired parents!!). We tried behavioral changes and we
had him evaluated at a Children's Hospital; they didn't order a sleep study
because it didn't sounds as though he had anything medically treatable.
Ultimately, his sleep improved on its own, and though I wish he slept an hour
or so more per night, he has no other real issues.
A good evaluation would include a medical history, including frequency of ear
infections or other respiratory problems, snoring, apparent apneas (breathing
stoppages), or any other medical issues. One thing that may not "jump out"
but can be a factor: my son was diagnosed with a mild form of autism about a
year after his evaluation. NOT that this is what's going on in your case at
all!!!! but in *Joey's* case, it turns out the sleep problems were probably
related to the autism. So it might be worth having a developmental review as
part of the evaluation of sleep problems.
The doctor at Children's basically shrugged her shoulders and suggested we cut
down on Joey's naps. We tried this - and wound up with a very cranky
2-year-old who still woke up a lot :-P so we decided to let him nap more. His
sleep improved on its own a few months later when we moved him to a regular
bed - in hindsight, he must have been ready for the move sooner than we
thought. Not sure I recommend this as a solution for all kids though - we did
the same for our other child at about age 2 and it was pretty rough - she was
not ready!
Earlier this evening (1 Jan 2000) I re-posted a list of links to web sites that discuss sleep
disorders. Section J of the list is about sleep disorders in children. Perhaps you can find some
useful info there.
