Is your child a poor sleeper?

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Lack of sleep is one of the biggest problems that parents and children with autism have to deal with... and it can make everything else seem that much harder!


Like this Mum:

"Do you have any tips to help for sleep, am going crazy here, my little one is 6 and he not a good sleeper, he can fall asleep on a good night at around 11ish, then be awake for around 4, and wants to go out and jump on trampoline.  On a bad night he might be awake between 12.30 and 1, and then is awake every hour, then up at 5 in the worst mood ever !!!! He has asd and learning difficulties."

Parents on the Hearts and Minds Facebook page had lots of answers, but the most popular one was Melatonin, which is available from your GP.

Other ideas were...

"Sleep Assure. It has been a life saver!!! I picked it up at a health food store. It's lemon flavor, it is a liquid flavoured melatonin supplement. And it's pretty cheap too."

"Weighted blankets, anything lavender, epsom salts baths, messages, deep pressure."

"Go into a health shop and get some 'concentrated montmorency cherry juice', it's a natural alternative to melatonin and works wonders."

"Have a look for stick on door alarms beep or give alarm tone when doors are open .i know it doesn't help with lack of sleep but gives a warning that he's up and about."

"My son was a terrible sleeper, he wouldn't go to bed and used to be up 4 to 5 hours in the night, we got him into a routine of bed at 8pm no matter what, we found he couldn't cope with the word 'bed', so we use 'upstairs', we still use a baby night light/projector which we find distracts him to sleep, he sleeps 8 till 6.30 with no night wakes."

Do you have any tips to add?