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Nighty Night: Getting Our Special Needs Kids to Sleep

Nighty Night: Getting Our Special Needs Kids to Sleep

Obviously, our daughter couldn't sleep that very first night in hospital because she was terrified!

She was hooked up to all kinds of frightening life saving machines and monitors and was not allowed to nurse for the very first time in her life!

I couldn't sleep because I was terrified she might die and it was killing me that I had to repeatedly refuse her attempts to nurse.

There was absolutely nothing I could do to help or comfort my very precious and very sick baby.

Over the years, at the suggestions of Bethany's doctors we've tried many ways to induce, promote, and help her stay asleep!

The first suggestion was to give her Melatonin about an hour before bedtime.  I have to admit that it did help her fall asleep at a decent hour, but it didn't help her stay asleep all night.

Plus, it also made her very grouchy the next day. We gave up on it!

The second suggestion was to give her Benadryl. Unfortunately, this medication did the opposite of making her sleep. It made her hyper and aggressive!

We only tried that once!

I'm sure we tried another medication or two, but I don't remember what they were called and they didn't work well enough to keep her on them, either.

And anyway, I felt like she was already on too many medications, what with taking three just to try to control her seizure disorder, so we decided to stop trying medications to get her to sleep.

I was getting kind of desperate to get Bethany to sleep through, because I was the one who had to stay awake with her.

Because of her unpredictable seizure disorder and her lack of understanding the concept of danger she needed and still needs total supervision while awake!

One day, during a desperate online search for better, more natural sleep inducing methods,  I came across the term, sleep hygiene.

It sounded very professional and very promising!

Basically, sleep hygiene is a bunch of practices that if followed routinely, should assist in helping anyone get a better night's sleep!

I quickly found out that we had been allowing Bethany to break two of the most  important rules to getting a good night's sleep!

We were letting her watch movies and play on her iPad in bed and allowing her to take cat naps during the day!

I'll be the first to admit that both of those habits were hard to break, but once broken, Bethany did start sleeping better and thus so did I!

Below are a few tips recommended by the sleep hygiene experts that you can try to help your special loved one get a better night's sleep:

> Eliminate caffeine from their diet.

> Don't allow snacks, especially sweets after dinner.

> Be sure your child gets plenty of vigorous exercise each day, but not just before bedtime.

> Be sure your child has adequate exposure to the daylight hours.

> Establish a calming bedtime routine.

> Make the bedroom a pleasant and calming place.

> Do not use bedrooms as time out or punishment spaces.

> Wake your child up and put him to bed at the same time everyday.

> Don't allow screen time in bed.

> And the hardest one for me to follow: don't allow daytime naps!

I won't claim that following the above procedure has been the perfect solution to all our sleep problems, because Bethany also battles against the seizure medication side effect of insomnia and the seizure clusters she experiences wreak havoc on her sleep routine.

But, I can attest to the fact that following these simple sleep hygiene rules when we can, has improved Bethany's ability to sleep and therefore mine, also!

Firefly Blog

Real life stories, issues and experiences of day to day life by special needs parents and
healthcare professionals.

Faith, Hope and Love

Meet Our Blogger

My family has been through the tragedy, trials and ultimate triumph over childhood brain cancer. My daughter Bethany, underwent emergency surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2000 and has since been diagnosed with multiple permanent debilitating disabilities. Now more than ever before, life is a daily exercise in tolerance, patience, unconditional love, faith and reliance on God.

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