I read through the post Anita Nap did on her little one and sleeping problems. I made a comment on her post about having some problems with that as well. Thank you Anita Nap for the info about sleep apnea... I made an appt today with his ped to see what we can do.
I was wondering though, since so many of you have tried Melatonin, how do you buy it? I also am wondering at what age did the kids start using it and how can you buy it? Like is it a pill, chewable, liquid ect. We have used benadryl on several occasions as of late since some nights I am so deperate for sleep. But we also use it for mild hives related to all his food allergies (I only want to use his Epi-pen for emergencies), so I really would rather not use it for sleeping. Since I know Melatonin is a more natural way to go, I need some advice.
Also, if anyone has any other ideas on things to try, let me know.
I guess I also should explain our probs for those of you who may not have read the comments on Anita Nap's post.
Josh used to sleep pretty well at night. He woke up once or so, but not for long and usually he would whine a little and go back to sleep. About 3 months ago, he started waking up more and was wide awake. He will play in his crib and not scream for the most part which is good, he is just is awake and doesn't seem sleepy. I have had to get him out of the room at times since we wakes up my 4 yr old and that isn't really fair for him to have to be woken up. When I do get up with him, he doesnt' want to rock or anything he wants down and to play. He runs around, squealing and giggling (which is not a normal behavior for him). It has gotten so bad the last month or so.. he wakes up every 1-2 hours and takes only 45 min to an hour naps during the day. It is sooo frustrating. So that is why I am looking for help. Our 6 year old with autism went through a stage similiar to this that lasted for a few months, but he was 4 1/2 when it happened. He was much easier becuase he would just lay on the couch and watch movies. Josh is so much more difficult.
So if you have any other suggestions, please feel free to share! Thanks for all the help. I am greatful every day that I have found all of you!
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4 comments:
I can totally relate to your sleeping problem. Marshall never slept well though. We took to finally video taping him so someone would believe us. I would talk to your doctor and if he dismisses it but you still feel uneasy, I know of a great sleep specialist. You have to go with your gut. If you feel your doctor is wrong, get a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or even 5th opinion. I've changed Pediatricians so many times. That's just changing the practice. I went through 3 or 4 docs in one practice once.
Melatonin is easy to find. You can buy it at a Health Food Store or some Pharmacies carry it. It comes in liquid, chewable tablet, a tablet that dissolves under the tongue, and a tablet that you swallow. For your little guy, liquid may work the best but it has alcohol in it and that made me feel really guilty for giving it to Marshall. When he was your son's age the sleep doctor (Dr. Pfeffer in Murray) prescribed Trazadone.
I know too well how tiring it is to get up with a child over and over every night. If you think it's just him wanting to play, maybe you could move your 4 yr old for a while and let the baby scream it out. It's a tough call. We lived in a 2 bedroom apartment when we had to move Nathan to the floor of our room. It was miserable!!! Feel free to email me if you have more questions.
I have some unopened, liquid Melatonin if you decide you want to try it. My doctor recommended it after JT got his tonsils out to help him get into a normal routine so I bought it (I ordered it from amazon.com so I wouldn't have to look around for it, good price too). I never gave it to him though because I wanted to see if he could do it himself. After a couple of weeks when the pain wore off he started to sleep through the night. Hallelujah! But now I have unused Melatonin...and Fer-In-Sol too (Iron). So if you could use it, it's yours. But I do recommend trying to talk to your doctor about this just in case there is something behind the sleepless nights that needs to be addressed.
Katie,
I would be more than interested in trying the melatonin. I do have an appt with the Ped. but not for 3 more weeks. Just let me know how much it is and if it's OK, bring it to playgroup next week.
Thank you so much for the help! I sent you an email about getting together, in case you haven't had time to check it. With school being out tomorrow and monday, I thought it might be a good time to get together. Let me know!
Melatonin works great for our children when they are too wound up to sleep. We have one child who pees though when she takes it so you may want to use a pull up if they are potty trained. we iused 1/2-1/4th of a 5 mg. tablet in addition to a regular bedtime routine,the idea being to ge the body on a rythm. At our home, that's just an IDEA :)
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