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Sleep advice

NAS89502
11 months ago

Hi hope everyone is well 

I'm new to the board and in search of any advice or tips 

My son is 6 he has asd and suspected adhd (referral to cahms recently gone in)

Since My sons asd diagnoses we felt so alone like we had all these people coming in assessing him all these appointments but once he was diagnosed that was it no help or telling us where to go for help or guidance 

We just assumed we had to find our own way to making his life more easier for him 

We have been battling the sleep issues for a year now and we are drained and exhausted 

He is so strict on routine our life is like the same video replayed everyday our days are predictable the new routine for bed as however changed dramatically and its now taking from 5pm to 10pm for us to get him to just lay in bed 

We take him to bed at 5 but only because if we took him up any later we wouldn't get out of his room till 12pm some nights 

He won't sit still to relax in bed so takes so long for him  to settle he's constantly moving we have made his room sensory friendly and calming he has a beautiful ceiling with stars and a light what creates a galaxy and universe affect I love to look at it while laid in there and get lost in it but my son won't even lay still to focus on it his mind and body is constantly going fast 

His gp sent an urgent referel to his pediatrician she declined it and stated no sleep clinic anymore and we should do a course 

But even our gp agrees a course is pointless as a our son is not about changing routine or finding ways to make things sleep friendly the gp agrees that our son needs to be on medication to slow him down

He is off school today because we got him to sleep around 10pm but he was wide at 2am and this caused him to be highly emotional but he doesn't nap he doesn't yawn he doesn't act or look tired he can happily sleep an hour and it has no effect on him and sometimes makes him more active  

Another appointment with the gp on the 31st to attempt another referral but till then we are just looking for any help or tips that have worked for others 

We have seen adhd scented stickers, rescue remedy sleep for kids, pillow spray, natural herbal sleep gummies 

We are so worried to try anything that will make him more distressed so we want to try something that as maybe worked for other parents in this situation so we are not overbearing him with so many different things 

If anyone has had the same situation and has successfully helped your child slow down and relax I will be so grateful of your advice 

Thank you

  • 11 months ago
    NAS89502 said:
    We take him to bed at 5 but only because if we took him up any later we wouldn't get out of his room till 12pm some nights 

    This will have become his new routine so it is reinforcing the late sleeping unfortunately.

    I would consider getting him to do some vigorous exercise in the run up to bedtime to burn off some energy so that when he gets into bed his body is in recovery mode and is more likely to be relaxed. Finding exacty how long this takes will involve some trial and error I expect.

    It may be worth leaving him to wind down on his own but with most stimuli locked up at that time - let him get bored with what he has to play with and he may end up winding down on his own accord.