My autisitc daughter has trouble sleeping: Advice?

My daughter has austium and has a really hard time falling to sleep… how can I help her sleep better cause it’s effecting her during the day!

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Get her outside and let her play and wear herself out. Find a hobby that will make her tired and create a strict schedule. If she stays up all night, make her stay up all day and nonstop play. She will sleep throughout the night with a schedule. I had trouble with my autistic son because I never had a schedule with him. That was our biggest issue

My 5 year old is severely autistic and Never sleeps either. She’d be up all night and it wouldn’t affect her. We give her 2 mg of melatonin gummy every night before bed. It does help her fall asleep faster but she never stays asleep long. She’ll be up still a few times every night. Good luck mama. It’s stressful and exhausting :frowning:

We use a bubble bath with epsom salt for kids (buy at Marshall’s or Amazon) and use a weighted blanket. My son rotates between a 3lb 7lb and 12lb weighted blanket

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Melatonin first, cbd second, sleep meds third

Following bc my autistic 2 1/2 yr old has suddenly decided to stop taking naps, wakes up 3 to 4 times a night, wakes up at 4:30 am every morning and doesnt fall asleep until almost 10 pm every night no matter what time we put him to bed. He seems exhausted all day though.

My cousin and her mom started making weighted blankets for kids with autism because they help my cousin so much

I bought a product sleepy time tea for my grandson before bed and a warm.bath it seem to help. I didnt know there was such a thing he told me his mom use to buy it anything is worth a try

Prayers for your daughter in Jesus mighty name Amene

Weight blankets, soft ocean sound

There is a bath soak that has melatonin in it, you can get it at Walmart. Let her soak in a relaxing bath and unwind from her day

Make sure 2 hours before bed there is no TV and there is no electronics 

Have you tried Lavender essential oils,a few drops on either side of her pillow or on a tissue inside her pillow case? I hope this helps Mama bear :revolving_hearts::zzz:

Zarbees liquid melatonin. Works wonders for my 4 year old boy.

Have you tried small doses of melatonin? Or maybe a sleepy bubble bath before bed, getting tons of outside time to help calm her before bed? I would definitely say talk to your provider, I wouldn’t recommend any harsh meds (mine tried to recommend some) my daughter is also on the spectrum and we’ve found that getting her up early & getting her nap on time + outside time helps a lot. But sometimes it’s still hard. hoping you find what works for you. :blue_heart: sending love

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Melatonin was awful for us personally. It gave my daughter night terrors. She has a disrupted sleep cycle I personally believe due to MCAS. Now that she is an adult we have been able to see better specialists and they did determine mast cell issues which can cause histamine dumps at night. I would try benadryl before melatonin and see if it helps… it’s the least evasive med out there and it is OTC. I would also talk to her Dr about a sleep study to make sure she isn’t having some type of sleep disturbance from something else going on medically like sleep apnea, etc.

Bubble bath/Epsom salts
Weighted blanket

May or may not work

My son’s sleeping patterns are wonky most of the time regardless of what I do

From my understanding neurodivergent people don’t produce as much melatonin as neurotypical people. I know it’s common to get melatonin prescribed (i think after 3) my son is 2 1/2 and his sleep schedule is a wreck. The only thing that helps him stay asleep is if he is sleeping with me. But when he’s awake during normal sleep hours i will just shut his door and sleep on his floor. He plays and is safe in there and I get some sleep. It might not be the best parenting but it’s working for us so far.

Lots of play. Healthy food. Bedtime routine. Low light, quiet house. Find some ASMR that they enjoy, let them pick it. YouTube has an endless supply and it works.

Bath before bed and a weighted blanket. Depending on age of the child you can put a privacy tent on their bed… hard to sleep with sensory overload.

try running a fan in her room

A lot of autistic children have issue sleeping, it’s something to be brought up with the dr

I know not everyone agree with it. . But depending on age talk to your pediatrician about melatonin or some sleeping supplements

or one of “sleepy time” hot teas. .

Some people really need them to help sleep.

Nothing worked for our son. We tried everything. About a month ago our doctor gave him an adhd medication that he takes an hour before bed, he is talking more, eating more and now sleeping 5-6 hours a night.

Speak with doctor about melatonin

There is a sub reddit called autistic parents that is a good resource for paremat of autistic children. I use it any time I have a question

I would speak to pediatrician and only your pediatrician. Every single child with autism is very different. And there are so many different solutions.

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Magnesium supplements can help with sleep and calming… nutritionally it’s missing in a lot of people’s diets

My daughter takes 1mg of melatonin an hour before bed time. It definitely helps her fall asleep. Melatonin will NOT help them stay asleep how ever.
My daughter is almost 3 and still wakes up 3-4 times a night. Without melatonin she has fits all night long and is inconsolable.

Definitely speak to a professional.

Don’t use melatonin!!! It has reverse effects on a lot of children. Especially those with ADHD and Autism. It can cause nightmares, sleep issues, cause them to stay awake longer, and they say it’s not habit forming, but it actually can be! I have a child with autism, and one with ADHD. Specialist and pediatricians all said stay away. Once I took it away, they actually slept better thru the night. Instead they suggested the image I posted underneath this. It helped TREMENDOUSLY!!! We also had a prescription for Clonidine for the really rough nights which was a big help too.

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We’ve been taking walks to the park in the evenings, and the outside air really helps our boy. We also had to change his schedule to cut naps in the middle of the day because he would wake up in the middle of the night for hours on end. So we started a bedtime routine after the park at 6-630 with a bath, story, and bed. It’s been working a lot better lately. After a few days with the same routine they start to rely on it and know what to expect next. Kids love routines. Try a few things and see what works for your babe. Best of luck to y’all :purple_heart:

Routine and maybe a bath. CBD that’s THC free works too