Last month I discussed autism and sleep issues; my daughter’s sleep issues continue despite having purchased a weighted blanket. Autism isn’t the only thing in my house associated with sleep issues, we also have the ADHD/sleep connection to look at with regards to my son. My son is five and since he was three he has been one of those kids who gets very little sleep, whether he needs it or not. Regardless of the time he goes to sleep he is almost always up between 5:30 and 6:00 am. This doesn’t count the numerous times he’s up during the night. It is not unusual to wake up at 2 am and find my son sitting in the playroom watching late-night cartoons. Thankfully we have thought ahead and not only do we have a house alarm but we have childproof doorknob covers on every exiting door in our house. If either child gets out during their night wakings we’ll at least know about it relatively quickly.
Now on to the question of why people with ADHD can often-times have sleep issues. There are numerous reasons including, but not limited to, the following:
- Sensory issues (overstimulation to sounds, textures, etc)
- Difficulty relaxing and falling asleep
- Night wakings (difficulty staying asleep)
- Snoring
- Sleep Apnea
The list could go on and on. My son has issues both falling asleep and staying asleep. On a recommendation from our pediatrician we give my son .5 mg of melatonin a few nights a week to help him fall asleep. We don’t do this every night but on certain nights it is clear that he needs that extra boost to fall asleep. This doesn’t keep him asleep through the night but at least it gets him off to a good start. We don’t have any idea how to prevent the night wakings. He’ll wake up and be up for an hour or two then go back to sleep. The odd thing is since he started taking a stimulant to control his ADHD symptoms he sleeps better. That’s a conundrum; give him a stimulant and he sleeps better.
I am at the point now where I consider an interrupted night of sleep a normal night of sleep for me. My husband and I try to take turns giving each other a break a few nights a week. Its amazing what one uninterrupted night of sleep does for me. I wake up feeling 19 again and ready to tackle my day.
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Sleep patterns. Huh. For the first 8 years of my DD’s (10) life I got about the equivalent of 2 yrs of proper sleep. The nights I had normal sleep, I’d wake up with a massive headache. She’s now sleeping fairly well, thank goodness, but there are still bad nights (BYW it’s 3:16am in Australia at the moment. This isn’t one of her better nights!) You have my sympathy.
Wow 8 years? That’s a long time. Odd that your body reacted that way when you had normal sleep – not a good way to reward you for sleeping so well hehe. Thank you for your sympathy, you have mine as well!