manic at bedtime

Hi there,

Not sure if I should be posting here or not but I was hoping someone would recognise this and be able to offer me some advice.

My 4 1/2 yr old daughter is currently going through the diagnosis process, so we are very new to all this and being so young it is only recently that her differences have become apparent.

She is a bright but rigid thinking little girl. She generally has very little interest in social relationships although turns this on its head sometimes by interacting with others. She has very good language although sometimes says things that don't make sence and doesn't always understand what we are saying. She is often in her own world and doesn't appear to listen. She likes to run (in circles) and bounce, and often chews things. She also has problems with busy places and some loud noices. She either hates touch or is overly touchy. She has little or no eye contact. She cannot deal with change and often flys off the handle if something isn't done 'correctly'

That is just a little glance into her personality. what I want to ask about is her behaviour at bedtime. It is like she becomes manic. She laughs, bounces on the bed, shouts, sings, makes daft noices. It like she's on speed or something. I'm at my wits end with it, she keeps her younger brother awake and often trashes her room and breaks toys and books. I'm really not sure of how to deal with this behaviour.

Does anyone recognise this behaviour or know any ways I can help her to relax? I have tried calm music, quiet time and she has a bubble tube. Nothing seems to work.

Help xx

Azpie over 13 years ago

My 7 year old daughter has been like this for as long as I can remember. When she was a toddler she would have her crazy half an hour before bed in which she would run around the house naked (she went through a phase as a toddler of hating wearing clothes and would strip down to her nappy or further as often as possible) squealing and just acting so hyper.
We just got used to it but the older she got the more over the top this hyper half an hour became. Eventually what worked for us was putting her to bed at 6 to settle down, so she could pick something to do to wind down, it could be watching tv or drawing or playing with her dolls. Then 20 minutes before "sleep" time I go in and tell her she has 20 minutes left so if there is anything else she wants to do to do it quick.
In her case what I think was happening was a reaction to being told it's bedtime i.e no more playing or anything and so she just lost it and became hyper. Wheras now she knows she has an hour or so before actually stopping to go to sleep she seems much calmer. There have been days when she's had to go straight to sleep time (because she was out late or whatever) and we end up with hyper time and it takes her twice as long to get to sleep.
kitkat over 13 years ago

Hi,
Your post reassured me that we're not alone - thank you!
My son (5) was recently diagnosed with AS, and he has very similar tendencies at bedtime esp when he is anxious or stressed (e.g. when he started school or when we go on holiday and are therefore in a new place). He would race around the house, throwing things, trying to kick me, laughing almost hysterically, and he didn't seem to register my distress or upset (I ended up in tears several times). He also didn't respond to anything I said or did. He was the same with our babysitter (embarrassingly). Like you, we felt at a total loss to know what to do. We had tried lying with him for a while to try to reassure and calm him, which worked to some extent. We tried to give him some calm options too (e.g. looking at books), but he couldn't settle to this on his own. We eventually had success for several months with story CDs (rather than music). I think it was a new and interesting distraction and gave him something to focus on while lying down.
... However, the effect of the stories has worn off for now. He is not as manic at the moment, but still takes a long time to settle to sleep and will arrange his toys on his bed, look at books, do his lego. We have decided that if he is occupied quietly and calmly in his room like this, it is not too bad (as long as he's not too tired the next day). We will see what happens when we go on holiday and when he starts his new class at school (we may try the storiy CDs again if problematic). The NAS advice seems very helpful, and I think I'm also going to ask the Occupational Therapist for advice when we see him/her in the next few months.
I hope this is of some reassurance/help!
Sandra - mod over 13 years ago

Hello mama b
You might find something helpful in this NAS article:
http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/understanding-behaviour/sleep-and-autism-helping-your-child.aspx
There's a lot of information there but hopefully you'll be able to find a couple of relevant hints.
Looking forward to hearing what's worked for other users.
Good luck.
Sandra - mod
jakesmum1 over 13 years ago

my son was exactly like this. He was diagnosed AS just over a year ago and recently went for his yearly review. I told his Dr about the settleing down and night and he prescibed 'Melatonin'. Its not a drug to cause you to sleep as it is a chemical already in the brain nut apparently my son was lacking in this chemical and it was messing his sleep pattern etc. Now he's completely different since taking it....within 1/2 hour of going to bed, he's soundo up until next morning....when he always wakes lees grumpy as he's has sufficient sleep. Hope this helps.