ADHD and problems going to sleep?
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Anonymous
| 1 mg melatonin for my 11 year old son. He's taken it nightly for years and it is the only reason he goes to sleep before midnight. Nothing else worked. |
Anonymous
| We have a 90-minute bedtime routine I am actively involved in despite the fact that DD is old enough to put herself to bed - bath, reading together, noise machine, weighted blanket. I would rather be doing other things but still hope eventually she will get through it herself. |
Anonymous
+1 Our ped said there's nothing that indicates that it couldn't be taken nightly. Even if you give it to your kid every school night, it's not a big deal. OP "not wanting" to give it every night is not a good excuse. |
Anonymous
| OP, you need a sleep study. Been there, done that. It's important. Ask your pediatrician for a referral. |
Anonymous
| Weighted blanket, magnesium, slow down at least 30 min before (do an audiobook). Getting fresh air and connection during the day helps a lot (eg, sports, study hall, a club, hanging out with present parents) |
Anonymous
| When my kid was put on stimulants he was also prescribed clonidine for sleep. If you're tired you can't function. |
Anonymous
| You said she has ADHD and anxiety and she’s not on stimulants. Is her anxiety medicated? |
Anonymous
|
I can not even begin to tell you how much Clonidine is a game changer for my daughter. With or without stimulants. She takes it at 8pm and it just calms her and as she said "makes all the noise in my head go away"
great for kids with anxiety or ADHD or any issues sleeping. A very low dose works. 0.1mg I mean sitting here reading the comments and like why go thru 30-90min routines each night. That sounds exhausting for everyone. We just put away screens by 8pm, give her a clonidine, and let her read a book. It has completely changed the stress and sleep in our entire house. |
Anonymous
| Melatonin much safer than clonidine. Melatonin really only a problem for older people where it can cause confusion. Also, make sure kids are off screens early, the lights from the screens interfere with the circadian rhythm. Get your kid in front of bright light early in the am (via a light box, lighted glasses, or southern exposure). Avoid any caffeine by dinner time, maybe look into nutrition- want to avoid sugar highs or lows at bedtime. Then work with your kid about what they want to do at bedtime to relax, within use of screens. Warm bath or shower, cool bedroom, weighted blankets, read a book, low lighting, hot milk with cinnamon, etc. ADHDers have adverse response to being told what to do, so important the kid sees the value of a good nights sleep and pick what they want to do for the last hour. |
Anonymous
| Similar child here. We only used melatonin sparingly cause it gave her terrible nightmares. It happened every time and never any other time. Too often to be coincidence. I will say that I cut the pills into crazy small pieces and give her about an 1/8. Even that little bit still worked. I don't think it was a placebo effect because we were not telling her why she was taking them when she was younger. https://www.target.com/p/source-naturals-inc-melatonin-tablets-3mg-tablet-120-tablet/-/A-90219147#lnk=sametab |
Anonymous
| Melatonin every night. |