HELP medication? | Autism PDD

Thanks for the advice everyone! I've tried melatonin but it didn't make any difference for my daughter. You guys are lucky that it works for your kids! I'm going to keep trying to figure something out...that's what mom's are for right?! :) Thanks for all your help! We give Payne clonidine to help get him to sleep. It's a blood pressure med that helps in small doses during the day to control impulsiveness, but at bedtime a bigger dose to get him to sleep.

I tried melatonin on myself for jetlag several years ago and thought, "ha, what a crock." However, I recently found out that you should only take it when you're ready to go to sleep. The mom I talked to says it won't work if her kids are watching tv, for example -- they have to be in bed. When I took it, I just puttered around, waiting for that sleepy feeling.

She also said that the window of opportunity varies according to the individual. Her son needs to take it 20 minutes before his target bedtime, but the daughter can take it as long as an hour before her target bedtime.

We use Chlonidine as well. During the day it actually made behaviors worse, but at night, it really helps him clam down and sleep. Insurance or the Pediatrician should be able to give you the name of a child psychiatrist. If not, as said above, the local hospital can surely help.

Here's my collection of free online sleep resources, including articles, questionnaire for diagnosing sleep problems, and sample social stories:

http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=19894&am p;KW=sleep+resources

Good luck with everything.

Do you have a local Children's Hospital? They should have someone on staff
to help you. Good luck.I'm curious if there are any other mothers out there that have a child that doesn't sleep at night? It's horrible! Last night I was awake from 11:30pm to 4am!!! My daughter is wide awake and I've tried everything...lots of activity during the day, with weighted vest, our "routine" before bed...and nothing is working. I've gone to a pediatrician who says that she should be on risperidol (spelling?). But I have to go to a psychiatrist to get the medication, she can't prescribe it. Well I can't find a psychiatrist that will take a 3 year old child. So how do the kids that need medication get it? I'm sure no medication is best but I've tried everything and now I'm desperate. Just to have a routine with her would be wonderful, especially when her intensive therapy starts. I'm so frustrated, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks alot!!!!have you tried Melatonin? I don't use it personally, but I've heard some good stories about it. Melatonin is a chemical your body produces naturally and can be purchased over the counter I believe.

Melatonin gets my son to sleep but does not always keep him asleep. If you haven't tried that you could discuss it with your child's dr.

Risperdal is not prescribed for sleep. It is used for aggressive and violent behavior. One of the side effects is sleepiness.

We started melatonin at 3yo. At 7.5y---we are still using it. It is over the counter and comes in sublingual and liquid form. We have always used sublig. form. You put it under the tongue and it dissolves and works faster then liquid or swallow. It doesn't help keeping them asleep. When older--they have time released pills that are the swallow kind. They work pretty well too.

Go to walmart or where ever and get some meltaonin. We started out at 3yo with 1 mg. Comes in different flavors too!