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Sleeping worse than normal

ParentingAutism

My daughter isn't sleeping well and I need ideas on what to do. She has always struggles sleeping but recently, the past few months have been horrible for her. She's struggled getting to sleep, then staying asleep and wakes up early. She used to sleep all the time as a baby and toddler but now she's older sleeping is like a chore, she hates it. 

We've tried everything, making the room dark, keeping it quite, keeping a routine, keeping the room cool, putting her on medication and having her take melatonin but there was no improvement, I'd anything it's getting worse. 

Last night was a bad night, but it is her first day back to school which is why, she was excited and nervous. She was being very noisy so I went in her room at 10:30 to tell her to go to sleep, then about 11 it was quiet so I belive she fell asleep. She woke up in the night and was up for hours then went back to sleep and kept waiting up. Then she stayed up from 6 this morning. We've noticed that she will wake up at 1 then fall back asleep at 4am. It's a very common thing and will happen most nights. She also put 3 weighted blankets on herself last night to help her get to sleep. What can I do now to make sleeping easier. We've tried everything we can. 

  • That sounds exhausting for your family.
    I am actually sleeping worse than normal too. My theory is the christmas break, that shook up the routine, and also days are  getting longer. Is she very sensitive to the seasons, and what is going on around her? So - as you said, she was excited and nervous, my son hates bed time too and was very nervous about going back to school. We try positive reinforcement. She didn't come to wake you up at 1 in the morning? Have you talked to her about it, maybe praising her for trying to be nice to not wake you? Not that you would want that possibly.
    Is she having night mares?
    I would hate bedtime too then.
    Our sweet autistic children will not come right out and say what is bothering them, we have to sherlock it out.
    Maybe she doesn't want to sleep away from you, maybe she still needs you close by at night. Our son just moved to his own bed at age 7, but he doesn't sleep there every night. He'll come into our bed still. He's always welcome here.
    I hope this helped in any way.

  • Hi, we had the same problem with our 12 year old son.  He is with CAHMS for his ADHD medication and the Dr SAID that the natural melatonin in children with ADHD kicks in a lot later, ie around 11pm. He has prescribed a tablet which our son takes half an hour before we want him to get to sleep. He's been on it for about 3 weeks now and he has noticed the difference. 

  • in reply to Lau

    Yes, we've heard of that. They used to watch it on the TV in bed or on there tablets. It helped but now their TV isn't working too well so they have given up on it all. 

  • in reply to Pagea

    She gets enough exercise, she definitely needs more food and water now you say that. She hasn't been eating dinners with us because she's not hungry, but when it comes to bed she is. She doesn't drink much either. I have to keep reminding her. At bedtime for her, all she needs to do is her teeth and have a wee. 

    One issue we have is that she shares a bedroom with her sister. She will settle and start falling asleep than my other daughter will walk on in, turn the light on, do what she needs to do, turn the light off and then go on her tablet, so there's that which definitely does not help. They are getting there on room next week which will help. 

  • Hey, sorry to hear your daughters having a hard time. Have you heard of ASMR? There’s loads of videos on YouTube. My son also takes melatonin but same as your daughter it doesn’t always work but he finds ASMR incredibly relaxing and does eventually fall asleep listening to it. There’s thousands of videos with all different sounds. 

  • in reply to ParentingAutism

    I wonder if addressing specific issues to do with sleep isn’t the thing, but rather other things that might be troubling her or making her anxious. Does she need more/less exercise, more hydration, less sugar - that sort of thing??  We are trying to break bedtime down into smaller steps for E as he just gets too tired and distracted at his actual bedtime and it ends badly. So he goes up to shower and put PJs on after tea and then has some downtime and supper. So it’s only teeth and a wee at actual bedtime and it’s less stressful. 

  • in reply to Pagea

    She listens to music quietly before bed, and when she is ready she will turn it off and go to sleep easier. 

    She does the same when she wakes up to help get ready. On a normal night she gets 7-9 hours of sleep which is good but she needs more and is just tired. 

  • So sorry to hear she’s having these problems. My son is the opposite - never slept as a baby but reasonable now. 

    Will she listen to audiobooks or music? So when she wakes she can lie in the dark and listen to something so at least she’s resting? It seems to me that fighting the sleep is counter productive. 

    Also what about those meditation apps?


    On a normal night is she getting enough sleep even if it’s in small chunks? When E was a baby I’d get six hours just not all at once!

    Would keeping a worry journal or something like that help clear her mind a bit before she tries to sleep?