Bad night

Post Reply New Topic

Hi all,

I am new here. This is my first real post. I posted in the introduction thread last week, and have been browsing since.

My son is almost 3 and was diagnosed with ASD last October. We had quite a night last night. He was up from 3-5:30 stimming more than I have ever seen him stim. He wears a Spio suit during the day, but yesterday we stayed in our jammies all day and he didn't wear the Spio. Plus, we have a trampoline out in our garage that we spend a lot of time on, but it is so cold out (we are in Illinois) that we didn't get out there yesterday. Well, it obviously caught up with him in the middle of the night and he was seeking some major input. Bouncing on my bed, squealing, and flapping. I ended up putting his Spio on at 4:30 and that seemed to help a little bit. We don't have many nights like this, I'm pretty lucky that he is usually a pretty good sleeper.

Should I be fearful that as he gets older we may be dealing with more sleep issues?

Thanks!
~Jen

I believe these things come and go; get worse, get better, get worse; but there isn't much point being fearful, although it is good to be prepared. As your son matures, he will learn to self-regulate during the day better, too, which will help.

Most young kids have sleep issues in phases, and it does usually get better, long run.

Sorry to hear about your bad night. I am always amazed at how much energy a child can have at 3 AM!

You guys might benefit from a weighted blanket. There was just a thread on the use of these a few days ago.

I notice with our son, 6 yo HFA, that his sleep issues come and go in phases, about 6 week cycles. You also might consider incorporating more activities into his sensory diet so he can get the input he needs even when the weather is too cold for outdoor play. For about a year we used the Wilbarger Protocol http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... 9LSbINc-y0 . DS eventually wouldn't let me do it anymore because he said he wasn't a baby anymore. He will however still let me do joint compressions on his hands and feet like if we are sitting on the couch watching TV or something. You can search this site for "sensory diet" and you will find a number of threads with some really helpful suggestions!

Thank you! We are starting the Wilbarger program. I have an NT daughter with SPD that we have done Wilbarger's with so I am familiar. And I have also bee researching the weighted blankets. I have a weighted belt from my daughter when she was little that I am thinking about trying with him.

Hi, welcome to the forum
Sorry to hear you all had a bad night. We are lucky, although my 5yo daughter has loads and loads of energy and can stay up all night dancing if we let her she does sleep pretty well. She kicks, shouts and grinds her teeth in her sleep though. We are investing in a weighted blanket for her to see if this will help her settle, she will be awake for an hour or more before she finally drops off to sleep. There is a thread on the parents discussion about that if you thionk that might help your son?

As its already been said, things come and go so its not worth worrying about the future too much I hope you find some answers on this forum, I have found it very informative.

My 'normie' son did this at about that age, most people I know had similar issues. I think it is a 3 year old thing not an ASD thing.

They have small portable trampolines that you can use inside. I was going to use one but decided instead on a bouncy ball. My son turned 4 a few days ago.

Welcome!

Sorry to hear you guys had a rough nite. I think we have all been in those shoes before!

My personal thought is not to waste time being fearful about it. If there is one thing I can tell you with 100% certainty is that both of my kids have lost issues that they had at 3 that I thought they would have FOREVER, and both kids have gained issues that they never had at 3 that I never would have even considered. Overall, though, I'd say that both of my kids (now 7--ASD and 11--NVLD/ADD/SPD) have experienced some pretty major maturation and many of their sensory issues are less severe than they were at 3.

Have you tried this? http://www.laceandfabric.com/Lycra-Whit ... dsheet.htm

Perhaps a little more wind-down time and more time wearing the garment prior to sleeping (even if it means being late to bed) can help address the problem. I know I must have my body armor on for at least 30 minutes (I prefer 60 minutes) before I turn in for the night, otherwise I am far too amped up to sleep. Considering I go to work (second job) very early and leave quite late, I need all the rest I can get. Also, ensuring he is well worn-out can help too.