Hello all,
I have a question for those of you who have girls or even boys who have sleep problems. My D has not been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD but has some type of learning problems and was tested in second grade for SLD but the points were not enough to recieve any help so she is on a 504 Plan. I do notice she has some speech problems can’t pronounce certain words and calls things by different names sometimes. By the way she is ten years old will be 11 at the end of August. She is going into middle school this year. She is not a behaivor problems always a joy to have in class as per her teachers. So this is a good thing. But when she comes home she bounces off walls so to speak and has a hard time sleeping at night, we have tried the warm milk, the chamomile tea and I usually lay down with her and cuddle for a while then she falls asleep usually. She knows she has a hard time sleeping at night, asked me yesterday if we could go to a dr. to get something so she can sleep. I asked her the other night, I don’t understand how you don’t get into trouble at school if you can’t sit still at home she said I don’t and she showed me she moves her legs around under the desk so she doesn’t get into trouble. Her grades range from A’s, B’s and C’s which is in math. She reads well but when it comes to comprehension and answering questions about what she has read she has a hard time with that. And when school is on and the homework begins we are busy and I always help if she needs it. I try not to take over but she usually needs help to finish it on time. I didn’t mean to go on so long but I wonder if it is different with the girls? And for those of you who are not on meds do you have problems getting your child to sleep at night? If so how do you help them relax enough to sleep?
Any responses from anyone would be much appreciated!
Re: ADHD, girls and sleep
Thanks for the info Diane,
My daughter sounds just like that, tossing and turning. Going to check with our Dr. about it. Have heard of melatonin before. Going to read more about it. She really needs something when it comes school time she will be starting middle school so it will be a big change for her. You did not notice any side effects with your child?
Sue M.
Re: ADHD, girls and sleep
No side affects and my doctor studied melatonin in the States as well, I’m in Canada, and he said that a quarter peice will do no harm at all. I have an 800 # if you like for the time release that I use and its delivered to your door.
Re: ADHD, girls and sleep
Yes, Melatonin helps, 1 mg 1 hour for bestime for a girl her age should help, some of my patients have used it successfully. You might also want to try Hemi Sync musci for sleep, it is designed to lull the brain into delta stage which is sleeping stage. You can look online at: http: www.hemi-sync.com. If that doesn’t work look up The Monroe Institute online. Other things to consider are a period of wind down time after the melatonin and constructive active movement when she gets home from school. Any sport would be great, jumping on a trampoline, and the like would help. She might also have CAPD based on what you said about speech problems or Sessory Integration Dysfunction, look into those.
Re: ADHD, girls and sleep
Thanks Cheryl for your info. My next question was, how many mg to give her. The problem is during school time , we have to get homework done and it takes forever so for a while there she wasn’t able to get some play time in. I brought that fact up to her teachers and we both agreeded that kids need some down time. So we had the amount of homework reduced. But it still took time. I often wondered about the CAPP as well, read about it before and to me it sounded like her. Since she is keeping up at school with the help of Mom and her too! I fear she will not qualify for any other special services that is why we have the 504 Plan. I was always in contact with her teachers, they know me well, lol!
We are going to try the Melatonin and see what happens. Talked to my daughter about this and she really wants to try it. She also does about 100 sit-ups in the evening concerned about her weight, lol told her she is growing and things will even out. She is not overweight to active for that. But we do have some realatives on Dad’s side that are very heavy and she worries about that. Did read some where that the exercises might rev her up before bedtime so suggested she might want to do them in the AM instead of PM.
Will post and let you all know how this works out. Again thank you Diane and Cheryl for all your good info!
Sue M.
Re: ADHD, girls and sleep
You need to encourage movement not take it out. Its a problem I see a lot at school where kids with ADHD lose recess for behavior and not getting work done but what they need more than anything to learn is movement. Giving it will increase efficiency in homeowrk. Try getting a gym ball like the ones currently popular for her to sit on and work.
Re: ADHD, girls and sleep
Exercise is great but not in the evening, have her do the push-ups during the day. My daughter is so active all day since school is out that she doesn’t need the melatonin in the evening anymore. Being active from morn til evening just poops her out, but if your daughter is exercising in the evening, that will rev her up and keep her awake.
Thanks for all your good info!
Thanks for all your good info all it has been very helpful. We live in FL and lately we have been getting lots of rain which is good for the grass but not an active daughter! Also we run into the problem where most of her friends parents work so they are not home during the day. And I am almost 7 mos preg. with No. 2 daughter! No. 1 daughter is just thrilled!
I agree when the kids are home she does get exhaustd at night but it it is still hard for her to calm down and go to sleep. She also wakes us during the night, has forever it seems. But for the last couple of days we have been taking the melatonin and it seems to help she is out in a lot less time. Still wakes up during the night but didn’t last night. So we will see as time goes on.
The exercises she is doing during the day now.
I want to go to her new school soon and talk to a guidance person so the teachers are aware before school starts of what’s up with my daughter, I have a file of all her tests and other important info so they can see. I really worry about six new teachers and homework from all of them.
Thanks again,
Sue M
My daughter is hyper/attention issues as well, a side affect of the meds is insomnia, but because I was already giving her dexadrine I really didn’t want to give her more meds for sleeping. Her neurologist suggested trying melatonin and just a quarter tablet 1/2 hr before bed wouldn’t harm her.She has been sleeping like a log. Before melatonin, she would toss and turn until midnight. Now that its summer and shes very active all day, I don’t need to give it to her because by bed time she is exhausted and falls asleep on her own. Good luck!