Son Not Sleeping and I am Tired

[QuirkyMotherOf2]

I am posting this on a few hours sleep so please be understanding. I tried to put my son to bed at 8 last night and he ended up being up till 4 am. The Psychiatrist has him on Clonidine. And at our last appointment she instructed me to give him 2 pills. Apparently, this is not working! I am so tired that I could fall over! Does anyone have any ideas? Every time I put him to bed last night, he just called for me. He does get juice or milk before bedtime, but trying to get a kid out of his routine, especially my son, is going to produce another round of sleepless night. I finally gave up and let him watch tv so I can sleep next to him but he kept waking me up. I know some said putting him on the diet would solve all my sleep problems. However, he is very picky and I am afraid he will not eat. Not to mention that it's just me while dh is deployed! Does anyone have any medicines that worked for their child? I've tried melatonin, worked for a while and then stopped. Thanks for reading this, sorry if this didn't make a ton of sense as I am running on little sleep.

[ang64063]

I know what you are going through, my son and daughter both have problems with either going or staying asleep. Here are some things you might try before contacting the doctor.

Try giving him a high carbohydrate snack (such as cake, a turkey sandwich pie, etc) right before bedtime along with a huge glass of milk.

Another thing you might try is adding up to 1 cup of epsom salts to tub full of warm water. Let him soak for as long as he can (preferably 20 minutes). Not only will it relax him, but it will remove some toxins from his body by bringing the toxins to the surface while the water is hot and releasing them once the water cools down.

If that does not work, and you want to research something to talk to the doctor about, you might look into insomia and ask the doctor if that might be your child's problem.

We are getting ready to talk to my daughter's doctor about that. They just recently put her on Clonidine and it works at getting her to sleep rather quickly, but my husband still finds her on occasion up and roaming the apartment when he gets home from work (he gets home at about 4AM).

Good Luck!

[mango2]

Quirky, it sounds like you've just scratched the surface as far as sleep aids are concerned. Clonidine is always the first thing they give you. I'll let other posters name some other drugs you can try because we've found some good ones, but despite all that, my 16 yr. old woke up at 2:00am and never went back to bed last night. We're very tired.
When we're at the end of our ropes, and the boy combines insomnia with self-injurious behavior, we break out the Chloral Hydrate.

[glsmom]

(i am a bad speller so please also be understanding hehe) hello I know exactly how you feel about a year ago we went through the same thing my husband was also deployed. I was near the point of nervous breakdown from sleep deprovation I was getting as little as two hours of sleep a night i want to cry if i think about how we were living my daughter would also be more cranky because she was also sleep deprived. now i am gonna tell you the answer to all your problems and i know you don't want to hear it but it solved this problem right away without drugs. Ready here it comes diet diet diet. You would be suprised how many alternatives there are. First get that milk out of the diet right now that is what is causing him to be up all night and you are giving him a fresh dose right before bed time. There are great alternatives that like my stubborn 2 and half year old stood her ground for a whole 2 days but if you hold firm after the first few days you will see that it is worth it. I gave her a choice the new milk or water I started off by telling her that milk was not good for her and it was making her feel bad. After she started feeling better she never argues now about the food she can't have she knows how much better she feels. she even opts to give choclate that they hand out at school parties to her sister telling her teachers that is not good for me. remember its not just milk it is milk products and anything containing the protein casien no cheese no butter but healthfood stores offer great alternatives most things you will be able switch out without too much trouble. My daughter drinks rice milk even though there is a minute amount of gluten she tolerates it and it is available at a famous discount store we all know and love. This works it is worth what little inconvience it may be intially. The good news is that here one year later she sleeps throught the night i put her in bed every night at 7 or so and she sleeps til at least 6 am and sometimes till 8. It may be hard but i will be on this board supporting you all the way answering any questions i can because i would not wish that awful sleep situation on my worst enemy. i am sorry i rambled on i just wish that i had this information sooner i just happen to stubble accross a book and it irritates me that we could have had her on the diet sooner and not been dealing with all that mess. the sleeping better was not the only benifit but it is the one you asked about so good luck and good sleeping

[BetsyAnn]

I know this is not the advise you are looking for, but I agree with glsmom. Last January I was so sleep deprived that I thought I was going to literally die of exhaustion. I am so thankful that I did not kill anyone with my car. My first post to this board was a desperate plead for help in getting my son to sleep. At the end of January our doctor gave us a prescription for Tenex (basically the same thing as Clonidine). It did help but by no means solved the sleep problems. We were still so exhausted and my son was so spaced out especially after we increased the dose. I started my son on "the diet" without any knowledge that it should help his sleep. After three days on a casein free diet he sleep soundly and peacefully for the first time in his life. The diet is a little difficult to follow at times but it's difficulty pales in comparison to trying to function month after month with no sleep. I would have to say that my life is much easier since having my son casein free.