Aspergers son refusing to sleep

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Me pessimistic? Never! I'm a steely determined optimist. I also object to strawberries, however.

I love satire. There is a lot of stuff that is parody/send up or plain slapstick passed off as satire. With that it really depends.

This is nonsense in general. Not everything that is synthesised is worse. Not everything that from nature that is good for you.

Also there is often confusion over organic and inorganic compounds. This has nothing to do with how 'natural' something is.

This is true. Take melatonin, for instance. The natural version is made from cow brains, and can transmit prions (the same ones causing Mad Cow disease) to people. Pharmacists found out, and the natural version is no longer being manufactured. Synthetic melatonin, on the other hand, is made in a biochemistry lab, and is very safe.

I haven't seen many side effects in myself while taking melatonin. One is being drowsy if I don't get eight hours of sleep after taking a pill, but that's kind of normal. Another is very intense, vivid dreams, but more often than not, they were pleasant or at least neutral. This might vary for your son, but if he's at the age where he knows that something is a dream, melatonin should be OK. The benefit of falling asleep quickly greatly outweighs the possible risk of a scary dream that you son will know isn't real.

Yes, you are quite right, sorry for the over-generalisation, the point i was trying to get across was that the safest things should be used first, with the least safest considered last.

My son is 7 and has had difficulty getting to sleep for about the past couple of years. Like the OP's child he would be up and down stairs constantly for a few hours after going to bed. Sometimes he would be in tears and upset about the fact that he couldn't get to sleep. He wanted to sleep, but his mind was just too full and busy.

It's almost 11pm right now, and he is still up. Tomorrow's Saturday and it's a holiday weekend, but even so he is rarely asleep before 10.30 -11pm any night of the week. If he goes to bed earlier than 9pm he just gets upset because he can't sleep. He will now stay in his room - he reads and plays with his toys, until he feels sleepy.

I would've tried melatonin, but my husband is completely opposed to it. We are separated and our son spends 3 nights a week with my husband. My husband claims that our son is asleep by 9.30pm when he stays with him, but any night I've happened to be there he has still been awake past 10pm.

All the various professionals, and my sis-in-law who works with autistic children, have recommended melatonin. But my husband, as I said, is opposed to it. He was furious when I suggested even approaching our GP for a prescription - it isn't available over the counter in Scotland.

My mother and I have always been "night owls" as well, so I do think that my son has inherited his sleep pattern from my side of the family. I am in rarely in bed before 1 or 2am at the earliest.

However, I do worry sometimes that my son is too tired for school because he not only goes to bed late, but will often wake at about 4am and then finds it difficult to get back to sleep.

I might try the camomile tea, although I don't think he'll like the taste - he is a very picky eater. Honey would help!

I tend to have sleep issues, as do my kids. While I've done some around the bush drugging of myself (Nyquil for my "allergies") on the rare occasion, we've mostly worked at finding the sources of the problem and getting routines set. Keeping bedtime the same, absolutely the same, especially the TIME, makes a big difference I've noticed. Calm nights, consistent routines. AND consistent wake times, 7 days a week.

All kids go through phases where they have more trouble than usual. It becomes a musical beds experience as they try to figure it out. One thing I've noticed is that it is much worse when they are OVER tired. So not being able to sleep COULD be a signal that they are actually heading to bed too late.

During the difficult phases I may stay with the kids until they are asleep, or allow them to read in bed a little longer. As long as they are IN bed by a consistent time. We hold firm on time and place but juggling mommy and daddy can be done without establishing bad habits for the kids.

I am really wary of giving any drugs or supplements to kids, as is our pediatrician. My kids still have never had cold medicine. What's cool is that they really learn other ways to soothe themselves. And that is SO much better than becoming dependent on something from outside.

I, myself, have become dependent on so many silly things that I really don't want my kids to. I can't deal if I don't have chapstick, or if I don't have a cough drop when my nose is runny, and so on. It's silly, but the sense of dependence is very real. So, I'm extra cautious. And I work harder on dealing with causes and adaptations than outside means.

Sleep issues can be greatly improved through some of the most simple things. That are difficult to maintain in practice. But work at it. It's worth it.

Getting enough sleep is something I'm fanatical about for all of my children. It's one of the few things that will get them punished every time. My son doesn't like to sleep but I insist he lie down in bed without getting up or playing in the bed. He always falls asleep within half an hour. Usually much less.

Well, thank goodness he's picky!

Valerian is highly addictive, causes headaches, nightmares and mood swings, and is very hard to wean yourself off when once you're on it. It should not be used other than in the most dire emergencies, and I would argue should never be used on a child.

mgran, I had no idea. Thanks for the info. I had used it myself in the past for anxiety and didn't suffer any of that but I rarely took it. I had the habit of leaving it at the house all the time, and of course I suffer anxiety attacks in public, so it wasn't around when I needed it Eventually I just threw it out and moved on.

That's okay. I only know because I studied herbalism in some depth. Just glad the info is useful.

As an adult, I'd use valerian in an emergency situation, no more than three nights running, if that, before going off it for five days to a week.

Chamomile is often genuinely effective, particularly in kids under puberty, and this would be a better choice.

Of all of the herbal remedies that I have tried, Valerian was probably the most potent of al of them. I also have anxiety problems and found that Valerian was sort of an "anxiety enhancer" in my situation.... I can laugh now, but it really made me feel very strange. It started out like a feeling of being very heavy and then I started to feel like it was difficult to breath and that basically caused me to PANIC! Those of you who suffer from panic attacks and anxiety know that the slightest little twinge of "weird" can send you into a panic, so you can probably easily understand what I am talking about. I have read also that Valerian has some drug interaction issues, as well. If you are taking any sort of SSRI drugs you shouldn't take Valerian because of something called seratonin syndrome. I totally agree that Valerian would be a scary thing to give to a child.

I am very new here, but have been a parent to an aspie/adHd for 7 years. It seems that here, as in the "real" world people will judge you for your parenting choices. I encourage you to tune that out...
I give my kids melatonin when they can not sleep. For a while that was nightly for my aspie.... once I got him in a routine... he did not require the melatonin every night. I have been thrilled with the results I get from melatonin, I take it myself on occasion.

Actually, magnesium should be about 100% of RDA. For an adult, that is about 400mg. NO LESS, because there can be problems. NOT much more, because that can cause symptoms that are counterproductive. glycinate probably won't do too much. Taurine can actually be a bit of a stimulant. That is one reason why it is in energy drinks like red bull. Glutamine is supposed to be like SUGAR(fuel) for the brain. So it could help the child to stay awake if they want.

Frankly, theanine is supposed to be good. 5htp(or tryptophan) is ALSO good. I think skull cap may be good. Kava kava never did ANYTHING for me, though some swear by it.

BTW as a kid, I would go to bed LATE, like maybe 2am, and wake up like 4 or 5am. I would PRETEND to go to sleep earlier, and be QUIET when I got up. Maybe your son needs to be as considerate.

Aspie mind...I have always been this way too...so is my kiddo...

When I "want" to sleep, same for my kiddo...the best thing I can do is put a relaxing CD on...HemiSync has some great ones...In addition, Chamomile (in liquid form from Sprouts) for kids works great for my son...it very much relaxes him and he loves the taste...

A Chamomile bath might work too it's great for unwinding and if you kid has dry or itchy skin it takes care of that as well. You just add the bags of pure chamomile tea to the bathwater when you run the water. Other then a ring around the tub it's harmless and at lest you kid will smell realy nice.