Help with severely autistic boy?

Question

My friend has a severely autistic four year old son. He no longer sleeps at night, waking by about 2.30am, full of life running around. Can anyone give suggestions to help improve his sleeping pattern as I am very concerned for my friend's own health. thanks

Answer 1

your friend needs to go to her Dr for help as they can give her info on groups that help with things like this if not look for groups on the Internet that may help. good luck.

Answer 2

Melatonin is a possibility, but first follow the suggestions about setting up a strict routine. Also look and make sure that the child is getting a lot of heavy work throughout the day (digging, jumping on minitramp for at least an hour, carrying weighted backpacks, etc). Occupational therapy with lots of sensory integration work should help as well, the first day my daughter did auditory therapy she passed out and slept six hours that night (previously got about four hours)

We also taught our daughter to play quietly in her room, until the sun came up. It took a few weeks, but it has been a big help.

Answer 3

I have autism, what you need to do is get some help for a consultant who will keep checking on his progress and sort out any problems you will encounter, every hospital has one so just ask for one who speacilises in his area, (Ive got one and its done me a world of good!)

Answer 4

I had the same difficulty with my son when he was young. I took him to an osteopath for cranial osteopathy. This involved manipulating the skull plates to slow the cerebral pulse. My son experienced this as firm slow massage to his head.

The sessions were 15 minutes, broken into three 5 minute bursts, which he was able to tolerate.

After the first session he slept for four hours. We went once a week for about three months, during which time he developed a regular sleep pattern. Once that was achieved we went only once a month for a further three months and then stopped. He maintained the pattern from there on.

I am aware that many people are successfully using melatonin, which is a naturally occurring substance, but I have no personal experience of it.

Answer 5

get her the book "louder than words" by jenny mccarthy. it might help...a big part of it could be the boys diet. there's lots of information in there.

Answer 6

Give him a natural herb called melatonin. Your body produces this to help you sleep. Some people don't have enough of this in their bodies.

Ask a doctor how much to give the child at least 30 min before bedtime and do this every night as a routine.

My daughter is 9 and I give her  5mg every night.

Answer 7

there is an organization for autisiam that your friend could call or you could and they can talk to both of you.  There others that have children with autisiam and maybe you and your friend can join one of the groups and learn from them how to work with your friends situation,(that isn't the word I wanted but I can't think of the right one right at this moment),  The other thing you could do is get together with your friend and sit down and pray.

Answer 8

work with an occupational therapist and behaviorist-

there may be a sensory processing problem that is at the root of his beahvior-the OT can help with this-

sometimes things like soft music/weighted blanket helps

and a behaviorist can help once the sensory issues are addressed by teaching teh child to stay in bed

Answer 9

I have a daughter who is 10 and is autistic. In the 10 years since she was born she has never slept more than a couple of hours each night. I asked her paediatrician if there was anything he could do to help and he gave her melatonin. You can buy melatonin over the counter in the US but in the UK it is a prescription only medication. The melatonin had no effect at all even when she was on very high doses. I now find even after trying her on other medication I still can't get her into a regular sleep pattern. She now has a pile of books, puzzles and her Nintendo DS at the side of the bed. She is told if she wakes up she can play quietly with any of these things but she must not get out of bed. It is not an ideal solution but it is the best I could find. If she is unable to stop her son running round in the night it may be worth seeking professional help. Good luck.

Answer 10

I wok in a home for autistic young adults and melatonin has been prescribed by the doctors to help promote natural sleep.It takes a little while to start working but i have seen positive results with it. Also his food maybe the problem a gluten free diet can also help in some cases. The best your friend can do is go and see the doctor for some help.He may be able to give her some contacts that could possible help with respite so that she could at least get one or two nights proper sleep otherwise she will not be able to keep it up for much longer without burning herself out and that won't help her son either.

wish her good luck.

Answer 11

She needs some help from the autistic society and aslo maybe some respite during the day she should speak to her education welfare officer or if at  aPre school  their SENCO and get him into a setting or school system during the day if he is not.  Something maybe disturbing his sleep look into this and also ensure he has full day time stimulation as with all children it aids better sleep.  If not then at least your friend can help there is alot of help out there and she should ask for it, funding and finacial help is also available for respite help contact autistic society they will have all the info

Answer 12

She needs to treat hin as you do a baby. It's been a long time, but I believe the rule is, "sleep when they sleep." After that she needs to keep the days as busy and exciting as possible to keep him awake during the day, no naps! He needs to stay awake when she's awake, so he'll sleep when she sleeps.

Also, there is help. In California he would already be in public school, with pick up and drop off from home. He would be receiving quality education from trained professionals. Also, we have Regional Center, a state run organization to help with special needs children. If this is not available where she lives I would hope there are other services available. You might check this out for her.

Answer 13

A Neurology Pediatric prescribed MELATONIN (2 or 3 mg) to my autistic son. It can be bougth in any store since is over-counter medication. Natural medicine aisle. He is just 3 years old. I didn't give it to him because I don't like sleeping pills. So, I start a new routinen with my son. I showers (not bathing) him around 8:00 pm (my son loves water) for about 30min. Then I put his PJ on, I give him his rice milk bottler (my son still take a bottler to sleep), & I brush him (the brushing tecnique) while he is taking his milk. He is now sleeping from 9:00 pm to 6:30 am. Since this routine worked for him I didn't give him the pill. It took my son about a month to get used to this pattern. But, I have met other children who have taken the melatonin. Their mother say that it works & the medication doesn't have any contraindication or addiction.. Actually, my husband is the person who is taking my son's melatonin & he's sleeping very well...