Tuesday 2 August 2011

I guess you are all rather tired of hearing about the sleep thing...

You know, that thing most people do at night. As most of my regular readers know, I now believe a night of uninterrupted sleep is just a rumor. But I have decided to keep a little sleep "diary" - a print out of the calender where I record the sleep we had every morning. In the week before this, from Tuesday to Tuesday., we had Little man L only sleeping through 3 nights - one of which was the Tuesday after Occupational Therapy and the Saturday when he only fell asleep at 11:30 after a huge afternoon nap. We used to see a pattern that he slept badly after OT (stimulated?) and on the nights when he had his eyedrop in his good eye. The problem was that 3 of the other nights he wake up between 2:30 and 3:00 and then was awake for 1 to 3 hours - apparently a typical SID kid issue. The 7th night he woke up briefly and went back to sleep. The problem is that C had a bad week too and they only both slept through one night.

I was hugely relieved when the OT on Tuesday morning had some more suggestions after discussing the issue with some of her partners. She had quite a few suggestions (and heavens, we have tried many both suggested by her or reasearched by me- the weighted blanket, the melatonin...) - let him sleep in a sleeping bag, do deep pressure with him before bedtime, keep up with the Melatonin and see if he wants the weighted blanket - let him decide. We also changed our routine to bath just before bed and not before dinner. The result - he has now slept through for 4 nights in the last 7, 2 where he did the hours awake thing (I call them epic sleep failures) and one where he briefly woke up at about 3:00. A slight one night improvement. Little man C kept waking up at about 3:00 this week, but somehow on Friday night it all came together and they both slept through for the following 3 nights. Last night was epic sleep failure time again - but from 4:30 so I guess it is ok. But L fell asleep directly after bath and I did not do the deep pressure exercises with him so I do not know if that was the issue.

Regardless - one would assume I had a good sleep for 3 nights? Nope! I woke up every night at 3:30 - jip, I now have their sleep routine. This morning at least I slept until L woke up.

So this morning the OT showed me the brush technique used by OT for SID kids - she die explain that it must be followed by the deep pressure and she has lent us a brush so that we can see if it works for us. This is something that will either work or not but Little man L seem to enjoy it. So the experimenting goes on. I have given up on finding "the answer" to the issue, but maybe I keep hoping.

BTW she has also suggested that we have his tonsils removed - it's been a long time coming, the tonsils thing, so maybe?

15 comments:

  1. If i were you i would be open to anything (as you are) and willing to try everything.  As I've said many many times before, i do not know how you cope.  But I guess you do what you have to!

    Hope the brushing together with the deep pressure works.  Seems like the hot bath before bed is a winner, but that's how i fall asleep too.

    sterkte skat xx

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  2.  Gosh, you have nerves of steel, I tell you.I have no answers - none.

    D tells me that yesterday morning Connor walked to our bedroom, saw we were sleeping and went back to bed. About an hour later, D had got up and then Connor came through again because it was now "waking up time".

    Can you tell them if they wake up, they must read quietly? or am I smoking my socks? :)

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  3. Sounds like the deep pressure massage is a winner. Maybe try that with some calming lavender oil? Anyway hoping you guys get closer to an answer. And more sleep!

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  4. There is nothing in the world worse than being sleep deprived.  I really hope this new stuff works for the sake of both you and L.

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  5. Good luck with the experimenting.  I am sure you will find what works for him.  And doesn't it just suck, when they sleep but you are so used to waking up you wake anyway.....  Oh well.

    I think the sleep diary is a good idea, you might notice patterns you would otherwise miss.

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  6. I really hope you get some proper sleep soon!

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  7. I'm so sorry to hear of your sleep issues.  It must be so incredibly tough.  

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  8. Hope it works! You've got all my sympathies! We feel exhausted only after we have been woken briefly and once at night...

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  9. ((hugs)) what's the brush?  Like a big soft hairbrush?

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  10. @Jenty:disqus It's about the size and shape of a shoebrush with nylon bristles. The point is not to be soft, but with a lot of pressure.

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  11. @1df5664b2e30fc773bc83bae74eb1bf5:disqus I think smells might over stimulate him so for now I am steering clear of any fragrance, even the calming ones.

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  12. You have all my sympathy...we have Lukas now...as I have blogged about it...and he wakes us at least twice a night.  Can't wait to get away...we are leaving for a week in Mosselbay over the weekend....sleep, sweet sleep;-)

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  13. We do brushing and joint compression with Graham 2-3x/day.  Seems to settle him down when he's hyper.  Also, he seems to really enjoy it.  When we don't do it, we find him scratching his arms, as if to brish himself.

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  14. Gosh I feel for you and all these sleep issues! I hope some of the new ideas help long term!

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So what's on your mind?