ADHD Kids and Sleep Issues

[DramaQueenLucy]

I am here looking for some advice. difficult child 2 has always had a hard time sleeping from the time he was a baby he would wake up in the middle of the night and be awake for hours before going back to sleep again. As he grew older the sleep pattern changed a bit but still at 9 y/o was coming home and taking a nap for 2 hours after school because of waking up at night. He has been for 2 sleep studies, the first one said to take out his adenoids and check for other soft tissue so he had that surgery the second said even after the surgery he was borderline for sleep apnea. The doctor wanted me to watch for somethings while difficult child was sleeping and come back in 3 months. He has been taking medications for sleep for about a year now with little to no help. He is currently taking trazadone 75mg at bedtime.

I feel that the sleep issue effects other areas because he is tired and then not at his best. Now that we are moving on to the pre-teens it seems to be getting worse. I have heard that sleep issues are common among kids with ADHD and was wondering what others have done to help with this?

 

[Jena]

hi

i've gone through sleep issues for years now on and off, depending on where my difficult child's cycle is running.

i tried so many things so i figured i'd share them with-you to see maybe they'd help you out. my difficult child is now on seroquel, it seems to be the only thing that helps her sleep and also gears her down somewhat to a manageable level.

i tried warm baths before bed, Occupational Therapist (OT) brushing on the arms and back to help soothe her, wrapping her tight in blankets almost swaddling her lol, (that and the brushing helped for a period), also reading before bed, lavendar sprays help with it, there are cd's called I can relax, they help the child learn techniques for calming their bodies, soothing music, melatonin, kava kava tea.

that's about it i think. i've never heard of that drug before. So, it isn't helping him? does doctor know and what are their thoughts? it's hard when it comes to the sleep issue alot of drugs arent' safe for kids that are specifically to induce sleep.

oh, another one was leaving a gap of time between functioning tv, playing and bed so her body would be able to go into "rest" mode somewhat. I would do anything I could though if you can to avoid the nap happening. I know it's so hard you feel so bad when you see their little bodies exhausted, yet maybe if you can keep pushing you might have a better chance of a full nights rest??

oh, another one that works forgot to mention is breathing techniques, she uses it almost every night now. utube has some cool videos on meditation breathing so you can learn and than teach it. it's pretty basic stuff, yet i find with me and difficult child breathing and visualization helps best.

sorry that was long, i've had alot of coffee today lol. good luck, hang in there i know its so frustrating for the kids and us as well.

((Hugs))

 

[DramaQueenLucy]

Most days we are able to skip the nap now but the big thing is waking in the middle of the night. difficult child has taken Melatonin but it didn't work well for him. His p-dr wanted to try the trazadone (I guess that it is an anti-depressant but works for sleep too) When he wakes at night he stays up for at least 30 minutes it is about the same time each night but he can be up from 30 minutes to the next morning. The big thing is to get him to sleep past 1:00am The trazadone seems to help him go to sleep but not stay sleeping...he always wakes.

 

[flutterby]

I know you've said he's done this since he was a baby, but when my difficult child 2 was younger and on a stimulant he'd wake up in the middle of the night and be up all night. I wonder if the stimulant is playing a role, too?

difficult child has sleep issues, too. It takes her a couple of hours to go to sleep and she wakes up during the night. She's always tired during the day. We've talked about a sleep study, but I don't know if I could get her to stay away from me all night like that...or if I could stay with her.

 

[DramaQueenLucy]

When my difficult child went to have the sleep study done I was able to stay right in the room with him, they pulled in a recliner for me.

What is stimulant?

 

[flutterby]

stimulant is short for stimulant - ADHD medication like Concerta.