Our 2-year son Noah has spastic diplegia and truncial hypotonia. He has never sleep as well as his twin brother. He wakes up and cries. We give him his pacifier, hold him, walk him, etc.. Some of the possible reasons for this that I have thought of are:

(1) Reflux
(2) Gas, indigestion, constipation
(3) muscle cramps, soreness

You folks seem to know a lot about this kind of thing. Do you have any ideas? And, if you have CP, do you have any sleep problems caused by the CP? Your help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks a lot !!

Spasticity can definitely interfere with sleep! For years and years I chalked up insomnia to just being a Type A personality. I take about 20 mgs. of oral baclofen at night before bed, and it does take the edge off. I'm not a big fan of the meds, but if he's not sleeping well, that poses additional problems for dealing with CP during the day. Might be worth looking into, if they determine that the sleep problem isn't due to the other problems you mentioned. Then again, I know a few two-year olds who just don't like to sleep..... :)

Thanks NJenn! I will definitely check into it.

:wave:

I absolutely argree with NJenn, what helps me is the warm (not hot) bath before going to bed. And massage, if there is somebody to administer it :-)))

Thanks Alinka! My wife and I will consider all these options you and NJenn suggested.

:)

Sounds like we have a similar issue as you. Our 2 y/o son has spastic quadraplegia cerebral palsy and sleeping is a major issue. Not sure if it is reflux, muscle spasm, stomach issues, obstructive sleep apnea or a bit of everything!!! We're just about to try Melatonin- have you tried it? He has probably had less than 20 full nights sleep in his life, he wakes frequently, sometimes resettling easily, othertimes very upset, othertimes wide awake not wanting to go back to sleep even though its only 4am. We feel for you - let us know if you have any answers.

nsm,

My wife and I have taken Melatonin ourselves with good results many times. I haven't thought of giving it to our son Noah. I believe that children that young have plenty of melatonin. I figure it must be some of the factors. We have tilted his bed so his head is higher than his feet. That helps sometimes. Also we quit feeding him beans at suppertime. Plus some other things. He has been sleeping better lately. In fact better than his AB twin !! Good luck and let me know if I can help!

My daughter didn't sleep well when she was younger. I read in Exceptional Parent that using a heated waterbed would help. We've used one for about 10 years now and it seems to have helped. Good luck! :)

I talked with my wife last night about this. She attributes Noah's improved sleep to a homeopathic remedy that he has been taking recently. I agree that he is a lot better in many ways since he started taking the remedy. email me if you want the homeopathic doctor's contact info. He is an M.D..


( You may post the doctor's name, city and state - no contact info.

Please read and follow the posting rules - no emails on these message boards )

Thanks for that. Glad Noah's sleep has improved for you. I've read a lot of research lately that Melatonin can be very successful for children with disabilities - tried it for the first time last night (you have to get a prescription for it here in New Zealand, not available off the shelf). We got 5 hours straight from Mykal which is good but I'm not getting too excited yet. He has a operation next week too so that's going to disturb the routine again. I won't try any other remedies until I've given Melatonin a try. Is Noah taking oral Baclofen at all? I'm wondering if this needs to be increased as well for Mykal.

nsm, Noah does not take baclofen. Do you find that helpful? I like that idea about the heated waterbed also. About Melatonin - we usually take time-released kind because otherwise it wears off in a few hours. 5 hours straight - that sounds good! Good luck !!