What is DS really wanting?

[AuNaturaleMama]

DS has terrible sleep problems. Weve spoken with his doctor and she said it's very clear that his sleep doesn't cycle like it should. Also, we discussed his melatonin levels. Apparently people with skin issues like eczema don't produce very much melatonin. So we've been given the OK to give him some at night.

We've made his room as dark as a cave in hopes that during his wakings he won't fully wake up and it will help him go back to sleep.

Last night and tonight he's gone to bed fairly easily with DH wearing him in a carrier. He slept from 830 to 10 when he woke up very upset. I tried to comfort him for over an hour. He pushed me away when I tries to hug him, fought rocking, cried more if I rubbed his back,pushed away water, even fought another dosage of melatonin... Basically I couldn't comfort him period.

After an hour DH took over and put him in the ergo. He calmed down but it took a while and I'm sure he got tired of fighting the carrier. I don't think he's specifically looking for DH because he's not home at night during the week.

I'm totally at a loss as to what he is really needing. Any ideas?

[Friday13th]

I took melatonin for a while in college and it gave me vivid, awful nightmares that I had a hard time waking up from.  So that's a possibility.  Does he have all his teeth in?  Screaming and freaking out like that in the middle of the night was usually teething, a nightmare or illness with DS1.  He was also an awful sleeper and still nursing for most of the night at that age so I don't have much advice.

[JuliMummy]

What is his sleeping like normally? Has he always been a bad sleeper? What makes your doctor think his sleep doesn't cycle like it should? What do you normally do when he wakes up at night?

[BethHH]

Oh, I would love to hear theories on this... sounds so much like my daughter!  She conked her head on her crib so badly while throwing a temper tantrum to avoid sleep that she literally cracked her skull.  Five nights in the freaking hospital.

Yeah. Good times.

[AuNaturaleMama]

Originally Posted by JuliMummy 

What is his sleeping like normally? Has he always been a bad sleeper? What makes your doctor think his sleep doesn't cycle like it should? What do you normally do when he wakes up at night?

I could write a book about this sleep issues and his sleep history!

He doesn't fight sleep in a "traditional way", it's almost like he physically can't fall asleep due to the habit of scratching his skin for comfort. Scratching leads to bleeding and pain which means no sleep but he does all his scratching while in what appears to be his sleep-eye closed slow rhythmic breathing, etc. Once he's asleep, he sleeps for about three hours then sits up and plays, sings, [insert high energy activity here.]
I
this goes on for 2ish hours and then we get to repeat the cycle again. We've tried everything in the book to prolong his sleep and they all backfire. We even tried CIO one night and that was a fail of epic proportions! It took us 4 hours to calm him and get him into a sound sleep and he only was CIO for 20 minutes. I was desperate for sleep and thought it might be our last resort that might actually help.

I actually just realized how incoherent my OP is! It was after midnight, I'm sick, and of course frustrated.

[Friday13th]

I don't have any experience in this area but from what I've read the scratching, the excema you mention and the sleep disruption sounds like they point to a food sensitivity.  Have you explored that at all?

[JuliMummy]

I don't have any experience with eczema, but it sounds to me that at least some of his sleep issues are eczema related. I'm a bit confused though. You say the eczema means he doesn't go to sleep, but then you say he does all his scratching in his sleep.

But I did want to comment that if he sleeps for 3 hours straight I'm not sure what your doctor means by saying his sleep doesn't cycle properly. Did s/he elaborate at all?

Also, if he sings and plays when he wakes up after 3 hours, that doesn't sound like he can't go back to sleep because of pain caused by his eczema. It could be that he's just one of those bad sleepers, and the eczema is kind of secondary to that.

[Gemini529]

I second the possible allergy reply.  I suffered from eczema for my whole life personally and I very recently found out what it is I am allergic to.  I always assumed it was just an unexplained condition, after ruling out every possible food group and beauty product.  Things got worse after I had my baby and I assumed it was due to my hormones being out of control.  I finally went to a dermatologist and had the TRUE patch test done and found out I'm allergic to flexible rubber/plastic products.  Pacifiers, clothing elastic, teething toys, bottle nipples, elastic on diapers, the handle on my stroller...all of these things were now everywhere in my house and I was handling them constantly.  I told my dermatologist about how I finally figured out what had been plaguing me my whole life and she just shrugged her shoulders and said "Well, I'd still suggest getting the prescription filled.  Sometimes eczema can come up for no particular reason."  It was like she didn't even hear me.  

BTW, my eczema is completely gone since I figured out what to avoid.  Sometimes I'll handle something that makes it spring back up but I always know when/how/why it happened.

Have you gone through all of the possibilities of allergy for your son?  Laundry detergent, clothing material, soap (even organic stuff can have potential allergens in it).  I hope this helps.  I am not sure what's going on with your baby's sleep cycle.  I feel bad for him because I know how it feels to not be able to sleep due to eczema.  I really hope you figure it out!!! 

[Asiago]

Originally Posted by Friday13th 

I don't have any experience in this area but from what I've read the scratching, the excema you mention and the sleep disruption sounds like they point to a food sensitivity.  Have you explored that at all?

My thought also.

There is a lot of info on food allergy in the book titled the The Baby Bond: The New Science.......by Linda Folden Palmer. She explains the relation to sleep issues as well as many other related issues (even incontinence for older children).

The chapter starts on pg 317 in this link

http://tinyurl.com/4bulx95