Gah! It's time to play "commiserate over how our kids do. not. sleep" - Page 2

[OGirlieMama]

My kids both sleep talk and sleepwalk frequently. One more than the other, but both twins do it. They also have night terrors, again, one more than the other (the same one) but both on occasion. 

[4evermom]

For those of you whose kids can't/wont take fish oil, you can try flaxseed oil.  It tastes slightly bitter like walnut oil but doesn't have strange flavors and is high in omega 3.  I put it on pasta for ds.  It's much easier to put in foods in a palatable way than anything I've tried with fish oil.  Ds won't eat the fish oil gummies either.

[emmaegbert]

my DS (6.5) has a high need for sleep and actually falls asleep fairly easily, though he does have night terrors sometimes (less as he gets older). its the early waking that gets us. 4AM, 5AM. Lately he is going back to sleep occasionally until as late as 6. We do lights off at 7PM and he is usually asleep within 10 minutes, though sometimes it takes a bit longer. Later bedtimes do NOT help him sleep in- the opposite, in fact. He does very well with 10.5 to 11 hours of sleep, and behavior deteriorates very noticeably with less than 10. He napped regularly until he was 5.

My kids absolutely love the Spectrum kids DHA/Omega-3 algal oil supps. They are very tiny, and don't have sugar or coloring (as far as I can tell). DS is prety sensitive to sugar too. A dose is 4 of them.

Edited by emmaegbert - 6/7/11 at 8:15am

[MomofSev]

Originally Posted by St. Margaret 

Just a lil vent

How can this tiny person still be awake? This is where I come here to hear and reassure myself how common this is. She is not your average bear and this is one way in which that is true...

Oh my gosh!!!!! I am NOT alone! My son stays up late, despite us telling him to go to bed (and tucking him in after a story around 8pm, which has ALWAYS been his bedtime), doesn't nap hardly anymore, and still gets up around 5 am every morning. I do realize that as kids, (some) children don't want to sleep because they feel like they are missing out on the world, or possibly something cool will happen while they are sleeping and they will miss it. I know this is also my husband's problem (he is gifted and barely sleeps). Me, I like sleep, but I am a morning person (thankfully) so the fact that are son gets up early doesn't bother me too much. As long as *I* get to go to bed before 9pm.

[Calliope84]

I am so freaking tired right now. DD goes for days and days with hardly any naps and then crashes for several hours one day. My mom kept bugging me about my messy house, but today she finally said (she never comes over, so she just doesn't get it), "Wow, I've never seen a baby fight sleep like this. She just won't go to sleep. I got all my housework done while you slept!" My step-dad asked if I've talked to my pediatrician because he thinks it is abnormal, too.

YEAH. I am having a seriously hard time cooking healthy food and keeping my house not disgusting.  Right now, my 8.5 month old has been up for EIGHT HOURS with two 15 minute naps. She is so tired, yet crazy with energy at the same time. I can not get her to go to sleep. People with jobs get way more breaks than this. I'd like a pee break... or a chance to eat my food. I can't wait til DH gets home (he gets home late) and she will probably fall asleep on his chest. I think she waits for him.

[meemee]

my biggest shock as a new mother was to discover that my newborn spent more hours awake than asleep. she would roll her eyes and wake herself up at 3 days old. for dd even now - some of it is mind going and the other part is she doesnt want to MISS A SINGLE THING. 

[insidevoice]

I remember being about three and hiding in my bed with a book and a flashlight.  By that point, my mother had given up on trying to make me sleep as long as I was quiet and in bed.  Even at that age, I only needed about 7 hours of sleep a night. Now my mother smiles when I mention that my kids don't like to sleep.  

My oldest is nearly 10, and while I would LOVE for her to sleep earlier/longer, she sleeps from about 10pm to 6am.  When she was fairly little (3/4) and her behavior was falling apart we used melatonin as necessary through really rough stretches- for her it was a great option.  We didn't use it daily but whenshe got into a really 'off' stretch' about a week of use was enough to help her 'reset' her internal clock to actually sleep. 

My middle child was a GREAT sleeper- from the very start.  He was able to simply be put in bed and go to sleep.  Eventually, we found some global delays and got started with treatment for him.  As the delays resolved some, he stopped sleeping.  Now he hates sleep and is apparently making up for lost time. The change has corresponded directly with helping him get 'up to speed' and overcome the delays.  Now he's testing as gifted in some areas, and no longer sleeps.  *shrug*  I think we just finally got his brain woken up and there is so much to process that it's hard to slow down. Researching the family history, he has a great great grandfather who didn't speak until he was about 5, but then when on to be a very famous and gifted engineer and inventor in his time. Apparently language just isn't the part of the brain at work early on for either of them. On the upside, my three year old has a wonderful time taking apart and rebuilding everything he can get his hands on.  

My youngest has NEVER been a good sleeper.  Even from the day he was born.  He's not yet two.  I suspect he is probably gifted, but not 2E and not PG.  In many ways, he's my most NT kid.  Over the past 3 months or so he's been getting better at sleeping.  He still can't sleep on his own, but he can sleep for a block of time and he does nap.  Progress!   

Maybe someday they'll all be off on their own and I can get a nap.  Until then...