Question:
Our son (John 4.5yrs pdd-nos) has always been a good sleeper, except for some
occasional periods where he would awake in the middle of the night for no
apparent reason. Recently he refuses to stay in bed, no matter how exhausted
he is, and continues to get up over and over until he passes out in our bed ,
on the couch or until we literally hold him down in bed until he relinquishes
and falls asleep. This ritual can continue for up to three hours and is really
adversely affecting his sleeping habits , and what little free time my wife and
I have with one another. We are concerned that if it continues his sleep
deprived, lethargic state will worsen.
Answer:
My son started doing the same thing- once awhile ago- I figured out
that he was still hungry and couldn't get to sleep unless he was
exhausted. Then more recently, Like for the last 3 years, he has alot
of anxiety about sleeping alone. I never figured out what he was
anxious about- the dark, the noises,- who knows- he bunks in with us
now. But at night I lay down with him until he goes to sleep and he
sleeps very well.
I did find that giving him a little dose of acidophilus in his juice
helps him sleep better and longer.
It sounds like its time to see the doctor about it. My son developed his
insomnia at the age of 4. He is now 11. A year and a half ago it developed into
a problem. After the Paxil and Dexedrine he was better, but could not go to
sleep before 12 or 1. He is on another medication that helps him to fall
completely asleep. It still takes time, and he still falls asleep where we are,
and we walk him into bed. He is not having a successful time learning how to
naturally fall to sleep. And still, some nights he's okay with 8 hours of sleep
and some nights he needs 12.
I agree with letting him fall asleep in your room or on the couch. Having to
fight his parents and sleeping at the same time will confuse him even more.
My boys were on imipramine for sleep, at the recommendation of their
psychiatrist, for 2-3 years, and it had the same effect on them - they just
crashed, wherever they were, and I had to push or carry their limp corpses into
bed. Later I tried melatonin, against the advice of this psychiatrist (because
it wasn't tested or approved by the FDA), and it was a godsend. They still take
it; 1 mg. is usually sufficient even now that they are big teenagers. With the
melatonin they don't just drop, but begin to feel like it is time to go to bed
- which is the desired effect. Their nighttime preparations are much improved
now.
This sounds very strange, but in a medical newsletter I get, I saw two unlikely
suggestions for helping a child fall asleep:
1. Change the orientation of the bed so it is facing a different direction.
2. Use sleep magnets under the mattress. (Magnets are being used for various
healing purposes, and there are places you can order them to place under
mattresses.)
