The hardest part of having a child that is non-verbal is that you never know for sure what is happening with them or to them. This week Spencer has been up every night.....last night it was 3:30am and he stayed up the remainder of the morning. By the time we got home, he bathed, we ate dinner and was relaxing, he was gone! So sleepy he could barely hold his head up. We pottied, brushed our teeth, lotioned up, sprayed the nose, started the cool mist machine and went to sleep. This was just before 7am. Around 9pm I heard something in the kitchen, I was in our bedroom surfing the net. I went in and there he sat in the middle of the floor, half asleep and not wanting to get up. Mike was gone and I can not lift him anymore. So I finally convinced him to get up, took him to the potty and led him back to his bed. He layed down and within seconds he was asleep for the 2nd time.
It makes me wonder what the heck is happening.....bad dreams, is he hot, is he cold, does he have sleep apnea, does he have anxiety or hyperactivity.....all these thoughts invade my mind and I have no idea what is going on because he can't tell me. So here I sit typing my thoughts and praying that God will give Spencer the peace he needs to sleep all night and get his rest. I give Benadryl religiously during allergy season which usually helps him relax, but am also thinking maybe he is developing a reverse effect to it. I'm so confused, so if you have any thoughts I would appreciate you sharing them with me. Broken sleep is so hard and I haven't had to do that for many years and I don't want to start again. He needs his sleep so he can perform to his highest ability and I need my sleep to also perform on my job! The body needs a deep sleep so that our bodies can restore and recover for a new day!!
3 comments:
If I had the answer to that I would be a happy person! Praying for you~
If you figure it out, please let me know, too! I would give a finger for a full night's sleep.
I feel for you. I just had one of those last night -- Kayla (age 4, Down syndrome/autism and also nonverbal) was up from 1:30AM - 5:30AM and then got up cranky for school at 6:30AM. She does this about once a week. She's even on Risperdal and one of the side effects is supposed to be sleepiness. NOT! Some people have suggested melatonin, but that just gets them to sleep, it doesn't keep them asleep. Kayla does have mild sleep apnea, so that is part of the problem (hopefully to be fixed soon) although last night was a case of a giant poop! She was whining for a while before I became aware of the big stink, but I wish she could have told me "I have to poop" so I didn't have to do laundry and bath in the middle of the night!!!
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