ADHD & Aspergers Forum

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ADHD & Aspergers Forum
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Sleeping

Hello there,
Does anyone have any ideas on how to get a 6yr old with Aspergers to go off to sleep earlier at night. Although we have a routine ,involving bath ,story in bed by 8.00 then light left on for 15mins (using timer)he still cannot seem to settle and finally goes off about 10.00 if not later .........this in turn is making him very tired for school the next day.Any ideas would be great.
best wishes

Re: Sleeping

Hi Jane-Marie
We used to put Camomile Tea in Kyle's bath (put a couple of tea bags in a seive and hold it under the hot tap), to help relax him ready for bed. Afew drops of lavender oil near the head of his bed can also be very relaxing...I used to be careful not to put it where he would lay his head (just in case it irritated his skin). We put a large clock on his bedroom wall, we found this better than a timer at bedtime as it ws less harsh on the ears (he didn't like sudden or loud noises (even ticking)). Then we made his bed time an hour earlier - giving him an hour to calm down ready for sleep before "lights out". When he was old enough he could read during this time but until then we bought him a small cassette tape player. Then we went out and bought childrens story book tapes.
Library's usually have story tapes or "talking books" to loan out and we also found many tapes at car boot sales.
We had to make a rule that he was to stay in bed, with the light fairly low and not have the volume up too loud - otherwise he would just get excited and not be ready for sleep. Keeping the volume fairly low also meant he had to stay still and concentrate more on the story, which also made him relax a bit more.
Because he has Aspergers it took a few weeks for him to get into the routine but once he understood that he could listen to any of his stories for a whole hour (which usually meant both sides of the tape)he accepted this more than happily. I usually went up to tell him when he had 5 or 10 minutes left (and pointed out the time on his clock) so he was prepared when I went back to tell him it was time for "lights out".
This definitely helped him to drop off to sleep easier. I guess because he would then lie there thinking of the story and not worrying about other things or thinking of other things to do. Occasionally he would sneak another tape into the player but as long as he was quiet and didn't do it too often I would pretend that I didn't know.
Hope this helps or gives you some ideas to try.

Take care
Anj

Re: Re: Sleeping

Dear Anj,
Thank-you for your helpful information,we are trying different things out and he has been getting to sleep quicker.
Thank-you for sparing the time to answer,it helps me to know that I am not the only one that is battling with these problems .
take care.
Jane-marie