My 2 year old will not nap and will not sleep longer than 7 hours at night. (ADHD, teenager)
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That's a fact! I haven't slept through the night in 7 years. Really.
I nap at night...an hour here, 2 here...but it'd sure be nice to go to bed and have the children sleeping all night too.
I think one thing that's contributed to the chaos is we've kind of lost our routine...this move was a really tough one and everyone's kind of miserable, so we've fallen off the routine wagon a bit, at least at night. We try to put all the kids to bed at the same time, but maybe little stinker will just have to go to bed sooner.
Here's hoping!
Oh I feel for you! You must be beyond exhausted!!!!
My son was the same way, I was losing my mind right before his 6th birthday, he had NEVER slept through the night. He was sleeping 3-4 hours at night, was hyper all day(I am sure trying to keep himself awake), and he quit napping at 2 yrs. I couldn't take much more.
I started researching what types of sleeping meds they had for kids-something I said I would never do to my kids, I was at THAT point. I couldn't imagine what he was going to do when he started school in a mere 8 months. I had tried EVERYTHING, night time bubble bath, massage, keeping him active non-stop all day, visual therapy(bright in the AM/dark an hour before bed), books, rocking(with this I would fall asleep and he would wake me up to keep going like a roller coaster ride), you name it, I tried it.
In my research I found out that some children don't produce enough melatonin. This is the chemical that your body produces when it starts to get dark to tell your body it is time to wind down. It is more common for boys to lack than girls, but it can happen to either.
I tried it, figured it couldn't hurt and if it worked it was better than medication. The first 6 months 1 mg was good now 3 mg of melatonin from GNC 30 minutes before bed and he SLEEPS(average for his age-if his body produced it-would be 7mg-but he never had it)....and isn't hyper during the day. Completely natural, completely safe, works wonders. The only potential side effect is to artificially give your child a "second wind"(by making them TOO sleepy to sleep-never happened to us).
A few others have tried it at my urging and it works wonders.
In my research I found out that some children don't produce enough melatonin. This is the chemical that your body produces when it starts to get dark to tell your body it is time to wind down. It is more common for boys to lack than girls, but it can happen to either.
I tried it, figured it couldn't hurt and if it worked it was better than medication. The first 6 months 1 mg was good now 3 mg of melatonin from GNC 30 minutes before bed and he SLEEPS(average for his age-if his body produced it-would be 7mg-but he never had it)....and isn't hyper during the day. Completely natural, completely safe, works wonders. The only potential side effect is to artificially give your child a "second wind"(by making them TOO sleepy to sleep-never happened to us).
I'm intrigued. I wonder how it works for anxiety. My teen has terrible anxiety, but won't take prescription medication due to a bad experience.
He gets insomnia and has anxiety during the day. If it calmed your hyper kid throughout the next day, I wonder if it would calm anxiety.
Edited to add: I looked it up and apparently people who have anxiety find it beneficial for insomnia, but not so much for daytime anxiety.
That's good to know though because anxiety keeps people awake. It would allow him to at least get a good night's sleep. I'm interested in seeing if he's open to trying it.
I'm intrigued. I wonder how it works for anxiety. My teen has terrible anxiety, but won't take prescription medication due to a bad experience.
He gets insomnia and has anxiety during the day. If it calmed your hyper kid throughout the next day, I wonder if it would calm anxiety.
Edited to add: I looked it up and apparently people who have anxiety find it beneficial for insomnia, but not so much for daytime anxiety.
That's good to know though because anxiety keeps people awake. It would allow him to at least get a good night's sleep. I'm interested in seeing if he's open to trying it.
It calmed Quin's hyperness because the hyperactivity was due to constantly trying to keep himself awake when sleepy, poor thing.
He calls it his "sleepy medicine" and asks for it if I forget to give it to him on time. On day 3 he gave me a big hug and told me thank you for getting it for him. I can't imagine what that poor kid was going through not being able to sleep(I know what I was going through as an adult, but I had the power of reason).
Maybe if your teen was able to sleep better some of the anxiety would ease? Might be worth a try. $4 for 30 at GNC, so no real loss. Start with a small dose and work your way up, too much has the opposite effect. I have also heard that benadryl is good for occasional anxiety without after effects. Good Luck to you and your son.
Finally by the time he was 4 we taught him not to wake up mommy and daddy, to just go downstairs, watch TV and we'll be down in a bit. He would come in every morning and say "Can I go downstairs?" It took him three months to understand he didn't need to ask, just GO.
Yeah I taught my dd to use the DVR at 3 so I could get more sleep in the morning too. I also taught her to read the clock and told her not to come in into my room until 8. Whenever she showed up earlier I pointed to the clock and told her it wasn't time yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by militarymom
Gosh my friend MADE her kid nap, well the child wouldn't nap but she put him in his crib every single day for a full 2 hrs whether he napped or not. This is cruel if you ask me.
Not necessarily, it teaches children to entertain themselves and to enjoy quiet time. My dd was pretty good at that as a baby, she would just play until someone came to get her. My son on the other hand has always liked to be held.
Around the age of two, if my daughter fell asleep for even a half hour in the afternoon, she'd be up until 10 at night too! I think she just had outgrown the nap and it threw off her rhythm.
Even now at almost seven, she is often up until 10:00 at night playing around in her room. Normally she's up by 7:00, though this morning it's 7:30 and I have not heard a peep from her yet. My nine year old son, on the other hand, is normally snoring at 8:30 and wakes up between 6:00 and 7:00. My husband only sleeps about 6 hours per night, but I require 8 or 9 hours to function well.
Some kids (and adults) just need less sleep. Unless you have other indications to believe that something is wrong, I'd just let him iron out his sleep needs as his body tells him to. I know it can be frustrating, because he's little and obviously can't be up without adult supervision, but soon enough he will be old enough to fix himself a bowl of cereal or whatever, giving you an extra half-hour's sleep in the morning. This too shall pass.
I'm intrigued. I wonder how it works for anxiety. My teen has terrible anxiety, but won't take prescription medication due to a bad experience.
He gets insomnia and has anxiety during the day. If it calmed your hyper kid throughout the next day, I wonder if it would calm anxiety.
Edited to add: I looked it up and apparently people who have anxiety find it beneficial for insomnia, but not so much for daytime anxiety.
That's good to know though because anxiety keeps people awake. It would allow him to at least get a good night's sleep. I'm interested in seeing if he's open to trying it.
If you are looking something natural for anxiety have your son try Kava Kava.
My son was the same way, I was losing my mind right before his 6th birthday, he had NEVER slept through the night. He was sleeping 3-4 hours at night, was hyper all day(I am sure trying to keep himself awake), and he quit napping at 2 yrs. I couldn't take much more.
I started researching what types of sleeping meds they had for kids-something I said I would never do to my kids, I was at THAT point. I couldn't imagine what he was going to do when he started school in a mere 8 months. I had tried EVERYTHING, night time bubble bath, massage, keeping him active non-stop all day, visual therapy(bright in the AM/dark an hour before bed), books, rocking(with this I would fall asleep and he would wake me up to keep going like a roller coaster ride), you name it, I tried it.
In my research I found out that some children don't produce enough melatonin. This is the chemical that your body produces when it starts to get dark to tell your body it is time to wind down. It is more common for boys to lack than girls, but it can happen to either.
I tried it, figured it couldn't hurt and if it worked it was better than medication. The first 6 months 1 mg was good now 3 mg of melatonin from GNC 30 minutes before bed and he SLEEPS(average for his age-if his body produced it-would be 7mg-but he never had it)....and isn't hyper during the day. Completely natural, completely safe, works wonders. The only potential side effect is to artificially give your child a "second wind"(by making them TOO sleepy to sleep-never happened to us).
A few others have tried it at my urging and it works wonders.
I wish you the best!!!
Thanks for sharing this!! I'm going to ask my childs dr. if this will be okay to take with his meds. Like your son my son is tired (yawning, cranky etc) but he's just wound to tight to actually fall asleep. Thanks a lot!!!
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