Hi People,
I know that some great stuff has been written about solutions for this but I cant find it on the forum. Probably reflection of my computer ability.
Anyway, that time of year again when my daughter can not turn her head off and takes an hour to fall asleep even though she is exhausted. Being gifted and ASD, tiredness is her number one enemy and her coping at school is starting to slip.
We had tried many many things but not the herbal remedy/medicine route. I am now ready to give this a go. Can someone suggest the things we can try taking to get her to relax and sleep earlier.
I know this has been written about several times on the forum before - it's a common problem among gifted individuals!! One suggestion I took from the forum was Tart Cherry Juice. It works well!!!! I use it myself and can highly recommend it. I get mine from Cherryvite.co.nz - it is cheaper than other products on the internet.
I have this problem myself and have recently been put onto some herbal sleep drops that I find very useful. I have suffered for over 20 years - active mind and all that.
They are expensive though - they can be found at www.sleepdrops.co.nz. We have even been able to get some for our gifted son who occassionally has trouble with sleeping too.
Other than that I use the Red Seal Insomnia pills which are from the supermarket and quite cheap, and work quite well.
I have had the same problem all my life and now use the cherry drink as well, it is great. We use it for both our gifted daughters, not every night , just when they are getting worn out, and it seems to make a huge difference to the quality and depth of sleep they have and they tend to sleep in the next morning, a real rarity with my youngest! Also full of antioxidants so good all round really.
Melatonin has worked for us in the past. But the tart cherry juice has not....grrr as she says go to sleep to Miss8 for the 10th time tonight at 9.58pm
Melatonin has worked very well for us with our gifted 9 year old. We took our son to the ADHD clinic to see if his lack of attention was ADHD. The doctor prescribed melatonin saying he thought he was gifted with a sleep issue. As luck would have it he appears he was right. With the right amount of sleep everything is much better for all concerned! He would often not go to sleep until 11pm, now surprisingly he often falls asleep within 15 mins of lights out. The goal is to regulate the going to sleep into a pattern then after two or three months stop the melatonin.
In my own research on the internet about melatonin, it appears to be quite benign and can be brought over the counter. It is often given for jet lag or to the blind to regulate sleep rhythms.
The other thing suggested, which we already did religiously, was good 'sleep hygeine' (i.e. no TV or computer too close to bed time or in the bedroom, a constant regime around bedtime, and bed at the same time each night)
Hope this helps.
Thanks everyone for your replies....juice is not something we have in our house so I think my daughter is going to think she has hit the big time....ha ha. I will definitely try that and then the melatonin, thanks so much for the advice.
Often the problem with getting to sleep actually lays in the very idea that one needs to 'switch off thinking' in order to get to sleep.
Trying to 'stop thinking' actually keeps one awake often times not the thinking itself.
Note however that when I say "often" I am referring to the silent thinkers amongst us whose thoughts etc are visual rather than auditory. It may very well be the case that those who think in a verbal format do need to 'switch it off' - I have no personal experience of that so cant know.
With the visual format however, 'dreamstate' and "conscious thought" have the same format .... the brain actually doesnt know the difference except for 'conscious engagement and directing' - so to just allowing yourself to 'float your way through' your thoughts tricks the brain into believing that you actually ARE already asleep ... and it behaves accordingly - switches into sleep mode and hey presto you actually are asleep.
Trying to 'stop to get to sleep' is like trying to achieve sleep by holding your breath - unlikely to happen until you are simply so exhausted from trying that you can no longer do so.
I have been reading this thread with interest, my darling now 9 has had the same problem all her life. Thank you so much I will defiantly try the juice and see how it goes. I have tried many things over the years that just haven't worked.
It's great to know we are not the only ones out there with the same problem. :)
HI, I am happy to see people referring my SleepDrops products as they are really very good. I am saddened to read that for some people a 2 month supply for adults at only $75 and a 4 months supply for kids at only $40 is considered expensive. Compared to other products on the market ours a GREAT value and not only that we provide support information with the products and are available via telephone and email for additional support.
If anyone needs our products to help with their family please don't hesitate to contact me personally and I will do my best to support you. kirsten@sleepdrops.co.nz
My son was a shocker and didn't sleep through the night regularly till he was 7.5 YEARS old!
What I have done since he was about 4-5 is he has audio books, this allows him to stop all his thinking and listen to the story and he goes to sleep with it on, I actually find I have the radio on as I go to sleep for exactly the same reason - gets me out of my head and lets me sleep.
Audio books have been great for us too... spent a fortune on them, borrowed from friends and eventually found audible.com - still spending a fortune but getting better value.
Hello there, my 6 years old son has recently been diagnosed with ASD and ADHD. He is a restless sleeper and often starts his day as if he hasn't had a night of sleep= irritable and clingy. I haven't gone through a lot of trial yet but the tart juice ( a whole botle period ) hasn't shown to improve it. As he isn't our only child, costs with the chalenging diagnosis is taking a toll on us. He(only) is on a about everything organic diet, cut white bread and lots of his sugar besides home baked weekly treat and his pure and high potency fish oil is crazily expensive : ( If you still have this 4 month suply for children at $40, I will defenitely try a.s.a.p. Please advise. My e-mail again is mecillima@xtra.co.nz. Thanks and Regards!
Yep, we use the juice too - great stuff! Managed to wean off for 6 mnths, but have restarted again, so I think once you reset some sleeping patterns, some people can go off it for a wee while:) Good luck
Melatonin! Was a miracle for us - prescription only unfortunately. THere's fast and slow release - one to get to sleep, one to stay asleep. A chemical the body should produce for sleep. An otc option is a Seratonin ('REM Sleep') which the body then turns to melatonin. Check out the other sleep threads, lots on melatonin there. We couldn't believe the incredible vertially overnight result: 9 years of not sleeping thru the night plus taking 2 - 3 hrs to get to sleep. Within 2 nights it was a full night and only 10 mins to get to sleep. however puberty has put that pattern out...
