[lsolaBella]

When DS1 has taken antihistamine at night (came out in full body hives after dinner) he could not get to sleep it was 11pm at night and he was still awake.

For me Phenergan knocks me out. Like PP said I feel like I have a hangover for days afterwards and don't function correctly (and that is on a 1/4-1/2 dose).

[Daisy Goat]

But why might he need Melatonin PP. The OP has stated that her son goes to sleep well and returns to sleep also. He is not awake for hrs at all.
This is a really good information and help guide
http://raisingchildren.net.au/verve/_resou...ep_problems.pdf

[soontobegran]

I do agree with the others when they say do not revert to medicating your child without medical supervision.
Phenergan is drug utilised by some paediatricians for severe sleep disorders but if you child does go back to sleep then perhaps his problem could be managed by disciplinary measures.
FTR one of our 5 children was prescribed Phenergan in reducing doses for a sleep issue that had been 4 years in the making and it worked. We never looked back after one weeks treatment and she never required it again.
This wasn't because I required more sleep even though I did, she was constantly cranky and was losing weight.
My last 2 were terrible sleepers, combining 5 kids under school age and work does not mean sleep is an indulgence...it can become a healthy and safety issue too.

[g_uzica]

We had sleep issues with DS. He had never slept more than 3 hours in his life, and was up from 2-5am wide awake every day. I was doing "everything right". We went to the MCHN, we watched DVDs, we did classes. I told my routine over and over, and got lots of head-nods and questioning looks. I felt like no one believed me. We went to sleep school. The nurses were a bit baffled, as we were already doing everything right, and DS was still up from 2-5am, wide awake, and waking several times a night. After a week, they shrugged their shoulders, and I got a referral to a paed.

The paed went through our sleep journal with us, and after a consult, recommended trying phenergan for a week to see if we could reset DS's body clock.

I think your situation is quite different from the OP, you used it as a last resort after attempting everything else to get your DS to sleep properly whereas OP wants to use it as a first resort.

You have nothing to feel ashamed about.

[Turn left]

You would seriously sedate your child just so that you can get a good nights sleep? Major parenting fail.

I think you need to carefully investigate why your three year old child is doing what he is doing. Try a service like Tresillian, or a sleep school. Look at what you are doing that is enabling your childs behaviour. Where does the behaviour stem from, could a sleep reward chart work for a child that age? Is the room to dark/light/cold/warm? Clearly there is an issue, and you might have looked into this stuff before but you need to look into it again.

This post has been edited by Turn left: 13/04/2012, 01:01 PM

[vitaechel]

OP - Every child is different and just because some PP have decided that the way they treat their child's sleep issues is right for them, does not make it universal.

I have also done all the "right things". I have spoken to maternal health nurses, called the sleep school, done classes in positive parenting, still waiting on Paed apt (yay for rural public system). All those techniques and advice and my son can't self settle. So we have stopped FORCING the issue. It's not a "discipline thing", he is just not good at sleeping. So now we lie with him to get him to sleep. He is more rested and slowly is sleeping better. It's not ideal, but it works for us. I was sick of torturing him and myself by doing the "locking him up" thing. 4 plus months of fighting bedtime with that particular therapy (how long he has been in big bed, before that it was in cot and controlled crying, planned ignoring, etc etc) and it just got worse. He has never slept well and as a newborn even the nurses in hospital doing the "right" things couldn't get him to sleep. He has always slept better if he goes to sleep near DH or myself.

The sleep nurses advice - Just stick with it - it will work eventually. So I tried again and realised: Hang on, who am I trying to make happy? The nurses, by doing it their way? Other parents, by doing it their way? Or my son? If it hadn't worked by then, it never will. DS will not be wanting me to lie with him when he is 18, he will learn how to do it on his own. But right now he needs comfort and that is what we give him. This acceptance by both DH and I has meant our house is now more relaxed in last 2 weeks than it has been in months. He is not getting up as often (in fact last few nights he has slept through). Also our DS is behaving better (mostly - he is 2 after all) as he is not as tired.

I am not a fan of giving medication to sleep. I don't sleep well myself and refuse to take sleeping tablets. But as many above have said, maybe see your GP and ask for Paed referral. Hopefully someone can help you with your problem.

Also know you are not alone. Many of us reach that point where we think - "God, just make him SLEEP" and giving medication seems like the best option.

*For the record I had a lot of nightmares and night terrors as a child (still have nightmares). I wouldn't necessarily scream or cry tho. Often I was silent with terror. I would just go straight to my parents room and get into bed with them. I do wonder if that is what is making sleep an issue for DS and that is why comfort is best cure for us.

This post has been edited by vitaechel: 13/04/2012, 01:06 PM

[Jenflea]

Op, you say YOU have trouble falling back asleep after your son does. Have YOU tried increasing your magnesium? I found that helps me get back to sleep when I was waking in the night with my baby and couldn't get back to sleep due to anxiety(and listening for the baby to wake again lol).

[ZombieMum]

go see a doctor. my friend has an 11yr old with a sleep problem. our bodies produce melatonin naturally. some people don't produce enough. my friend was prescribed some melatonin. only certain chemists stock it though. good luck :-)

There are all sorts of reasons why someone might not produce enough Melatonin. There are also ways to help increase the production, without resorting to supplementing it. The fact that the child has no problems falling asleep may mean a Doctor won't be willing to prescribe it.


Some people don't produce enough of it because they sleep with the light on - which is very common for young kids that sleep with a night light!! Remove the night light, and you increase the Melatonin production and the problem is resolved without resorting to medications like Phenergan.

When you are waking up in your sleep cycle, then your Melatonin production is being affected, so you need to find out why the child is waking up.

It is believed some kids with an Autism Spectrum Disorder produce less Melatonin, so it's possible there is an underlying cause if Melatonin is the issue.

Oh OP, is your child waking up at the same time every night? My DD1 did that when she was about 2. I realised that it was because she could hear a train in the distance - which would have been during her lighter cycle. I just changed what time she went to bed so that when the train blew it's whistle, she was in a deep cycle and didn't wake up.

Just another thing that I remembered. Try moving his bed around, maybe 90 degrees, and see if that makes a difference. Try it for a few nights, then move it around 90 degrees again until it's back where it started. Can't remember the reasoning behind this - but it worked wonders for the insomnia I had as a teenager.

[Ridcully]

I had two (twins) like this from 18mths old to 5 years old. You cannot drug them. As a PP said it is only a bandaid. And frankly getting a taste of a couple of unbroken sleeps makes it even more distressing when it reverts back to normal.

Otherwise learn to cope. Thats your job

Yes, but a few nights of unbroken sleep might just help the OP get mentally prepared to tackle the actual issue of her child needing her to resettle.

IVL- you highlighted something important that is also what other people don't take into account. The Hangover. It has a horrid hangover. Anyone who has taken it themselves would know. It can leave you heavy and drowsy for hours the next and even leave you with a lovely headache.

OP- it sounds like your issue is more with self settling that the whole waking thing. Many any children probably wake a few times a night... just like adults do. The problem is if they can't go back to sleep again.
It sound like you need to find ways to teach him to self settle when he wakes up. To not come and get you to put him back to sleep ( even i it is just a kiss and a tuck in). Hee needs to learn how to say to himself :its night time I need to go back to sleep by myself"

Have you tried a Glo-clock? This has a blue screen and and moon with stars that count down on it that lets them know it is still sleep time till the Sun appears. It also creates a soft blue light in their room so that if it is the black darkness that frightens them they feel safer with the light.

You do make some good points here though, particularly with the after effects. It makes my girl very withdrawn, quiet and sluggish for a good 8 or so hours after it.

From what you are saying he IS getting his sleep. He is doing normal sleep cycles and waking up in between them- many children and people do this as a normal course of the night As I said he needs to learn to resettle himself. You are his resettle trigger at the moment. You need to find something else to be this trigger.

Another good point. At 3 you can probably have a conversation with him about it too. Buy a special teddy together and tell him that it is his 'sleep teddy'. I did this with my 2 year old. We talked about when she wakes up during the night she is to cuddle her sleep teddy and not to call out for me unless she has had a bad dream. Surprisingly worked a treat.

[ambwrose]

Both DD1 and I become hyperactive after phergan. The last thing you need at midnight is a child that's bouncing off the ceiling.
Have you tried getting his father to sleep in his room and letting you get a decent nights sleep.

Margaret