My son had a great deal of trouble sleeping as a toddler, but he sleeps well now. When he was in elementary school, we used Melatonin to help him (and ourselves) get some much needed rest. He outgrew the insomnia!
Norway mom,
That is a possiblity, but during the day he waits until it can be dire. He does not want to stop whatever he was doing. He wants to keep going all the time. I think he does this to get out of bed. Then I walk him back, but the past two nights I did not walk him back aftet the second time and he stayed in bed. Tonight I not going to walk him back at all. This might be a subconscious way of getting mommy to go to his room. Well see!
I remember one time we were out on a long drive and there weren't any bathrooms in the area and Sam had to pee really bad, I had a tupperware container and he was baffled. He's a little "Adrien Monk-ish" (American TV show about a man with OCD) about things, but his need to go ruled over his heebeegeebees! It was funny, Then he tells his dad, " I pee'd in a bottle!!"
I have of course another problem, that I was hoping someone could help me with. My six year old PDD son has begun to detest bed time. He will get up 3-5 times a night every 2-15 minutes to go to the bathroom. He never did this before. This is crazy. He does not understand punishment or consequences even though he is smart and normal functioning. All he sees is the punishment and not why it happens. He just sees that he lost his favorite book or toy for a day and cries without seeing the connection. He does not pee anymore then normal during the day and this night time stuff is crap really.
Last night I decided to talk to him about it. He likes to solve problems. So I asked him what he hates about bed time. He said "the weird noises" so we went through all of the sounds. Then I asked him what he thinks about and he said, this is a real kick, "calling you two times." He is a terrible liar so most of the time he doesn't even try.
When he does get up he sits on the toilet (he has poor aiming skills
This has to stop. I know there are times he has to pee, but not every 2 minutes. He does not have any health problems other then the PDD. Any clues on this one? This is one of his newer habits. He has others, but none so frustrating that I can't work through it. This behavior is affecting the whole family. We all go to bed early because we get up early. He'll say "it's an emergency" when it isn't and he'll insist without concern for others. He is the typical autistic kid who doesn't understand the give and take in relationships. I've tried the ABA approach that we did when he was little, but it isn't working. He fixates on this an won't give it up. The only other thing I could do it put a commode in his room and lock him in. KIDDING!
Any suggestions? I understand that he has trouble shutting his mind down, what to do?
Kim
In first grade, my son went through a period of wanting to pee often. One day he went to pee every 10 minutes at school, so then we took him to the doctor to rule out bladder infection and diabetes.
The problem seemed to begin one day when he had to go to the bathroom REALLY bad and I had to let him pee on a bush on the way home from school. I don't know if it was the "fun" of peeing outside, or wanting to avoid that unpleasant feeling of a full bladder, but after that he started going to the bathroom more and more. The fascination apparently faded, because the problem eventually went away after a few weeks.
Maybe your son had a similar incident? It's more likely the weird noises, though, since he said something about that himself. Having something to mask these noises might be a good solution. It's hard to say why he suddenly is so much more alert and aware of these sounds, though. Is everyone else in bed, too, or is there activity he hears and might want to join in on?
I've heard of people giving tokens -- the child can get up a maximum of 3 times/tokens. You can ask the child "are you sure you want to use a token? Then you'll only have 2 left." I've never tried it myself, though.
Here's a link to our forum topic with sleep resources, including sample social stories:
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=19894&am p;PN=1&TPN=1
Good luck with everything.
Great ideas!
Ann2boys: I'm going to look into those disks, I think he would love that! He'd feel so grown up. And the baths, I've never tried Epsom salts...but we will.
Tanglewood67: I put Sam in get this: T-Ball, Soccer, Swimming, and an exercise class for kids with motor delay. HE DOESN'T SHUT OFF! And he is on Adderall. Funny kid, if we could bottle the energy we'd make a fortune. It takes a lot to wear him down, but once he falls asleep he stays asleep unless he really has to pee, but that's the same for anyone who can use a toilet. And he is reluctant to get up in the morning. Because he is comfortably asleep.
At night no matter how early we start the routine, he is wide awake and hard to settle in. I'll give it a go. Thank you all!
I'm going to look into those CD's did you get them in a store? Or though a Sepcial Needs catalogue?
Love you all!
Kim
my seven year old has always had sleep issues since birth. Is he involved in any activities? I enrolled my daughter into dance class and it has helped quite a bit. Not perfect but some improvement. My daughter is not a big fan of outdoors due to we live on a very noisy street, so I thought it would be a good idea to get her involved with an activity. It certainly makes her tired, as she burns off some energy.
Good luck.................just a suggetion
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