Sleep (Yes, I would like some please)

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Lots of kids with autism have sleep issues.  From what I understand, a kid with autism's brain has a hard time shutting down long enough for them to get into REM sleep for any good length of time.

We have tried almost everything for our daughter.  Melatonin gets her to sleep, but won't keep her asleep through the night.  A noise machine my help to block out the noise in the rest of the house, but when the issue is that she wakes up in the middle of the night when the house is silent, it doesn't make much difference. The doctors try to help, but it's kind of a crap shoot for them too. 

We have tried prescription medication also.  Clonidine seemed to just make her a zombie, and it didn't help with her night waking.  The doctor suggested Risperidone, but with all of the side effects (some permanent), I just couldn't give it to her.  We finally decided to try Trazodone.  It seemed the least severe option.  It worked for a while, but recently she has started waking up around 4:30 or 5:00 many mornings.   It gets kind of old being woken up between 3:00 and 5:00 am four out of seven nights.

Our most recent attempt (we are grasping for straws here) is ordering a weighted blanket to see if that will help.  Hopefully she will be able to sleep until at least 6 am on a regular basis.  I will be sure to post the outcome whether it is successful or not. 

People who don't have kids with autism and sleep issues just don't get it.  They think that I am "drugging" my child for my own convenience.  That is most definitely not the case.  When she wakes up at night, she doesn't come  out of her room.  Sometimes, she doesn't even get out of bed.  She will just lay there and talk to herself.  She scripts (recites word for word) the tv shows that she has seen or the games that she has played on her Ipad.  She doesn't bother me.  I can just turn off her monitor and go back to sleep.  But the next day, she does not function well.  She will be irritable, she will be even less engaged than usual, and she does not progress in her therapy.  When she does sleep, she is a different child.  She is more interactive, her stims are decreased, and she can make progress during her therapy sessions.  

 I want to go on record.  I would never drug my child for convenience.  I hate the fact that I have to give her medicine every night to help her sleep.  I don't do these things because I am a lazy mom.  I do these things because I am trying to give my daughter every shot at succeeding in life.  Hopefully, one day she will be able to sleep on her own.  Until then, I will continue to make the hard decisions and do whatever it takes to help her be the best that she can be given the hand she has been dealt.