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Post by bugsmom on Mar 22, 2010 17:43:11 GMT -5
I know that a lot of ADDers have a hard time going to sleep if they take stims during the day, and I was wonder how you guys handle it? Josh has NEVER had a problem with sleep. He has always been SO hyper that no matter what time I told him it was time for bed, he would go and fall asleep easily. This is even on stims. Anyway, for he past 2 months he just can't fall asleep. It is driving me nuts. I let him stay up until 10:00, which I don't think is too early, but his mind and body just doesn't want to go to sleep. I know as kids get older, their body clocks want to stay up later, but he really suffers the next day with the lack of sleep. Just wondering what your kids sleep patterns are...  |
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Post by misty on Mar 22, 2010 18:21:05 GMT -5
Sleep patterns? What are those? Shannon has never slept well. Even as a small child she had sleep problems. She is not medicated so her problems have nothing to do with medications. We have tried everything......clonodine, Melatonin, Benedryl, warm baths, you name it. Nothing ever works for long. The last 2 years with her in cyber school, I have kind of let things slack. She usually goes to bed around midnight & I get her up at 9:30, but she says most nights she just lays there unable to sleep for at least an hour.I don't know what is going to happen next year when she needs to be up early to catch a bus.
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Post by katiekat on Mar 22, 2010 18:44:49 GMT -5
Sean has always had problems with sleeping. But his are in the morning, as in he wakes up WAY to early. This was much worse before he was on meds-his meds are for the BP and not stims. I get up at 6:30 on weekdays and he is already up, dressed, and playing video games. I have no idea what time he actually gets up, he always says he doesn't remember.
My husband said he did not sleep through the night once until he was 2 1/2 years old! Oh my!
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Post by kellyh on Mar 23, 2010 9:46:57 GMT -5
Megan didn't sleep through the night till she was 6...years old! She has ALWAYS had a rough time sleeping. We used to take turns for years laying down with her each night and holding her or else she just wouldn't go to sleep...she wouldn't get out of bed, but she'd talk to her animals, do summersaults, etc....
Even now, she has a hard time getting to sleep. She is on a stimulant, but like I said, that isn't the cause of it. She definitely can stay awake longer than I can. Even now, she'll sleep with me sometimes and she fidgets and wiggles in bed....I'll tell her to stop and she will...but then it'll start up again for a while....
We've tried melatonin, tenex, guanfacine and clonadine...nothing has really worked for long. Bedtime is 9, but by the time she usually falls asleep, it's at least 10 or 11....sometimes 11:30. Which is NOT good when I have to wake her up at 6:30! She does seem to fall asleep faster when she sleeps with me...but that just can't happen every night.
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Post by unicorn on Mar 23, 2010 20:53:30 GMT -5
Like stories above Tiff was never a good sleeper. As an infant I had to drive around the block for long periods of time to get her to sleep each night. And she would only sleep a couple of hours at a time all day and night. Like Kelly said, until not she was between 6 and 8 did she finally slept through the night. Now she is 11 and still 99% of the time sleeps all night.
Currently she takes 2 3mg Melatonin pills and 1 1/2 pills of Guanfacine. It takes her a while to get to bed and to sleep. She still has trouble winding down at night. And it takes up to an hour to get her up in the morning.
Those are her current struggles with sleep.
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Post by trid on Mar 24, 2010 12:52:10 GMT -5
Mike slept through the night at 5 weeks, Patrick is going 18 years old and still doesn't sleep, Shaun slept through at 8 weeks, but hasn't slept through since he was 12. I read somewhere a few years ago that the computer screen/TV screens make enough visual "noise" that it over stimulates and you should avoid them in the evening. To test the theory in reverse, I started waking Mike up and hour early for school, and let him play video games before he had to catch the bus. Teachers reported he stayed awake and more attentive in school. My own experience, since I got my laptop and keep it bedside, I don't sleep as well. I'm not sure if it is because I have been stimulated by checking my e-mail at bedtime, or if it is the temptation of playing online at 4 a.m. when I can't sleep... but it could be worth the effort to try "no electronics after dinner" policy for a few weeks and see if there is any validity with your own family.
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Post by bugsmom on Mar 25, 2010 9:02:42 GMT -5
Trid...I did put a stop to the electronics at 8 pm. Josh loves the computer, but would stay on until 9-9:30 and I thought it was too much stimulation before bed. So in January I put an 8 o'clock curfew on it.
I decided to just mellow out about the 10:00 thing. My husband reminded me that when we were 14, we didn't go to bed that early, and he was right. I used to stay up and watch Johnny Carson every night...hee hee.
So, I'm just gonna try to chill out. I guess I was just more worried because he's never had sleep issues before. All of this came out of the blue. He's still getting in bed at 10:00, but I let him chill and watch TV in his room. He's falling asleep at about 11 to 11:15. That's fine for now because we're homeschooling and he not up at some ridiculus hour. But come September when he start back at school, he's going to have a tough time.
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Post by misty on Mar 25, 2010 9:12:38 GMT -5
Bugs, thats what I'm worried about too. For the past 2 years Shannon has gotten so used to starting class at 10:30 AM or later. She sometimes doesn't start until her 1 pm VC class & then finished her other work after dinner. Its going to be nuts next year adjusting to a real school schedule.
As for the computer, it doesn't seem to be a problem here. Some days she's on at night, some days not & no matter what she cannot fall asleep easily. I'm on the computer just about every night right before bed & I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.
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Post by jj on Mar 25, 2010 12:13:09 GMT -5
One thing I have noticed with my own sleeping habits is, if I can't sleep one night and finally go to sleep much later than normal that sort of sets the stage, so to speak, for the next few days or even week and in some instances a couple weeks until I slowly get back to normal. The same is true if I wake up earlier than normal. The next few days I wake up like clock work at that same early time. I battle this all the time.
So I guess I'm saying if you are going to try something, like take the computer time away earlier, it has to be for at least a couple weeks so the body has time to slowly adjust to a reasonable sleep time. Of course it may not work since everyone is so different.
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Post by jill on Apr 2, 2010 9:16:29 GMT -5
I try aiming for 9:00 for Annette's bedtime but between distractions and listening issues most nights she is in bed by 10:00 as for sleep sometimes by 10:30 (a good night) and she can be up until midnight other nights. I use Melatonin or benedryl. The pediatrician wanted to offer me clonadine but I refused due to it being a BP med. Annette is clumsy to begin with and I had visions of her with low BP falling down the stairs and hurting herself that did it for me. We do allow her to have her TV on or music at bedtime helps her relax.
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