Ds seems to have insomnia!

[kdescalzi]

My 4 yr old ds has been waking in the middle of the night for the past 3 weeks. He is simply awake and wants to play and eat breakfast...even if it is 2am! He gets super mad when we take him back to his bed because he says he isn't sleepy anymore. I do not know why he is so awake at all hours of the night. Can a 4 yr old have insomnia?? Could he have something medically wrong with him??

[JaneS]

We've seen that alot in allergies... food intolerances specifically.

Any new foods/vitamins?

[kdescalzi]

No new foods but now that you mention it, we did start a new gummy Vitamin D. Could that really cause wakefulness??? We also use a small dose of chewable melatonin once in a while. What do you think about that causing our problem?? TIA

[JaneS]

vitamin D at nighttime or earlier during day? Vit. D is energizing. Which one?

[kdescalzi]

I bought Ironkids Vitamin D3 400IU. I haven't been keeping track of the time of day when he is given them. The kids ask sporatically for their vitamins when I forget. Could vitamin D really cause this??

[JaneS]

if he is sensitive to annatto or the other flavorings, yes. And yes, vitamin D is energizing. You can take it out and see if the wake ups continues.

400 iu is too low if you are in Canada.
www.vitamindcouncil.org

[MountainMamaGC]

Also now that its getting cooler is he still getting the same amount of exercise that he used to? I know DD has a much better sleep if we go for a walk once a day than if we stay inside all day long. Also do you notice any snoring? That can also interrupt sleep and it can be hard to go back down if you are repeatedly woken up by something like snoring. It could be adenoids or even the dry winter air. A humidifier can help.

[leafwood]

for my kids night wakings like you describe are associated with bad dreams. for some reason, they don't wake agitated or upset, but really resist going back to bed. it was finally my youngest that told me. i asked (in my exhaustion) "what's so bad about sleep! mommy wants to sleep" and he asked me if i saw the "Big t-rex in my dream". then i figured out that he was actually trying to avoid sleep and was much better able to to pull it off than i.
once i knew, i was able to coach him through the nightmares.

[neptunemama]

Does he go back to sleep after a few hours? Both of my girls did this when they were gearing up for a large mental leap. Right before a huge increase in speech capabilities, right before taking off on reading on their own. It varied by kid, but that could be what's going on with your ds. Is their something specific he wants to do while he's awake in the middle of the night?