Go. To. SLEEEEEEEEP!

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(a rant)

Okay if this boy gets up out of bed one more time and wakes up the baby one more time I am going to Lose My Nut!!

We're in hour three of the up-n-down's and he always manages to wake up the baby. I told him to stay in bed unless he has to pee, so he's make two trips to the bathroom, at a snails pace, in the last 20 minutes.

Anyone else have this problem??

Then come time for school guess who will be complaining about how tired he was at school and how that made everything awful for him yadda yadda ARG Go to Sleep!

I forget how old he is .... that does make a difference. Generally, if he can't sleep, he can't sleep. I've found that books help; picture books for the younger set, reading for the older. We moved up bed time and started to allow longer reading in bed time, and that helped with both my kids. The rule is "stay quiet in bed." Even if you are having trouble sleeping.

Been there. Done that. Know exactly what it feels like. The fear that you may actually be driven to kill your own child.

Solutions? Afraid not. Mine survived and is now 16 and is still up all night. Arrrrrh!

It's 3 AM. I've gotten up at least five times so far tonight. Given that, my sympathies lie with the kid. Stop complaining. He has sleeping problems. You can't kill for that.

No you can't kill for it, but you may feel like you want to.

Parents also deserve a bit of sympathy after all they are also suffering from sleep problems too. I know from experience, the child may be able to survive on 3 hours of sleep every single night, but the parents can't. And if the parents are suffering who will ultimately suffer as a result?

Just starting to see my daughters behavior as being on the spectrum she is 4 - and I can tell you since she was in my tummy - she woke me up each night and still does at least once that is almost 5 years of sleep depravtion - no wonder I am tired all the time.

It's just very, very frustrating when he plays these games. He doesn't realize that Mommy NEEDS her precious few hours at the end of the day to de-stress.

As for killing, nobody's killing anyone. It's just an expression to mean "aggravated beyond belief".

Thanks to those who commiserated. I know all kids go through this but he's almost 8 yrs old and he knows better (yes, he does!).

(as for reading in bed, he can't read yet, so it'd just lead to hours of "Mom, what is this word? and possibly frustrated tears. )

I bought books on CD for my daughter. The ones you listen to. This did help the problem as she was happy to stay in bed and listen to these. I was told that this would be better than reading herself as she wouldn't have to concentrate and was therefore more likely to nod off.

Don't put on the tv for them. The last of the senses to go as you fall asleep is sound. You can be half asleep and on you way out and still be listening. Sight is the first. Watching something will help to keep him wide awake.

Probably stating the obvious here (since I'm not a parent), but I assume you've cut out caffeine and/or sugary foods and drink 3-5 hours before bedtime? I sure know what it's like not being able to sleep. Aside from my non-stop running mind, I have frequent indigestion and acid reflux (I'm 15 and have the stomach of a 65 year old woman) which prevent me from falling asleep most nights. It's exhausting and frustrating.

It's just gone midnight and my son is back at school tomorrow after the holidays. He went to bed at 9pm, and has just gone back to his room yet again - still wide awake! He'll not be so cheery in the morning when he has to get up for school.

I reckon it's hereditary as I was always, and am still a night owl. My mother was the same, and her mother.

I know exactly what you are talking about. My 7 year old AS dd seemed like a good sleeper, but the last few years have been rough. She constantly is up and out of her bed, getting things to be in bed with her. She also seems very anxious lately....so she's always scared of something. The last few months, she's started waking in the middle of the night and staying away for at least an hour. We had one night where she woke my 2 littles up (2 and 1). That wasn't fun at 2am. I don't have a clue what to do for her.

Thankfully, now that she can read, she mostly stays in bed. Before she could read chapter books, she was constantly out of bed. She shares a room with her 4 year old sister who thankfully is a great sleeper. My 7 year old is also deaf, which poses a problem because we have to sign with her at night. She wears cochlear implants during the day and hears well and speaks well with them.

Have you tried a weighted blanket??
We had the same problem about 8 years ago, we don't have it any more.

I am right there with you. Tate had sleep problems as in not sleeping until we put him on meds at 3 no sleep stratagies worked. He was on them until 8 years and then we weaned him off them using sleep stratagies instead. Now at 11 sleep stratages are not working and he is trying all of them. He just flat out cannot sleep and even if he falls asleep he does not stay asleep for any length of time and this is making his anxiety durring the day so much worse and then he has anxiety about anxiety and anxiety about not sleeping which makes him have an even harder time sleeping.....and on and on......Back to the doctor we go.
Cynthia

I am 26 and I still have sleep problems. Melatonin helps but it does not work for everyone; however, it's quite safe and has some good research to back it up, so you might give it a try (ask doc about possible drug interactions first).

The only reason my mom thought I eventually learned to "sleep through the night", at about age 6, was that I learned to stay in my own room rather than waking her up.

You can't make your kid go to sleep. You can, however, teach them to spend waking hours at night quietly.

I had the same problem as a child and even as an adult for a while. I always had to have at least three thick comfomforters on my bed to get the right sensation of pressure. I found a really nice lady on http://affordableweightedblankets.com/ who makes weighted blankets for kids with autism and such. She is SO nice and makes sure the blanket is just right. If she dosen't have any fabric of your request on hand, she will get some. The blanket has worked wonders and for the first time, I can sleep through the night.

We aspies get this alot. We are supposed to "know" better.
A typical 8 year old doesn't give alot of thought to his mom's needs and an aspie 8 year old doesn't know much about other people's perspectives. It's part of the disability.
He may know better as far as rules go, but sleep problems are a HUGE issue with the Autism Spectrum. If I don't take my elavil (mild anti-depressant), I NEVER go into deep sleep and wake several times a night. I'm a grown-up and I've learned to do some things to put myself back to sleep. But I was notorious as a child for waking. It wasn't a BEHAVIOR I could control. I could only control what I did when I woke up.

I would suggest the following:
1) Have your child evaluated for any possible medical conditions that can cause frequent waking. that can include acid reflux disease, asthma, ADHD, and melatonin inadequacy.
2) If medical causes are ruled out, consider using social stories (thegraycenter.org) to show your child that his behavior after waking affects you and your other child. Also use social stories and a visual flow chart in his room to give him options for what to do after waking. For an example of a visual flow chart, oddly enough, I highly recommend Sheldon's "friendship algorithm" on the tv show The Big Bang Theory. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0xgjUhEG3U

I have 2 college degrees, a successful career, an Asperger Syndrome. I can assure you, I would love to sleep all night. It only happens when I take medication. My son is 2 and we are beginning the process of obtaining a diagnosis for him, as he is beginning to show strong symptoms of Asperger Syndrome as well. My husband isn't on the spectrum but he has shadow symptoms. One of the symptoms that my son has that indicates possible AS- sleep disturbance. I'm sorry, but it's just part of the syndrome. Again, your son probably can't control his waking. So focus on helping him deal with his behavior AFTER waking.