Do all ADHD kids wake at the crack of dawn? How can I get my kid to sleep later?

[Anonymous]

My almost 5-year-old child routinely wakes, wired, in the middle of the night. We just got tbe ADHD diagnosis. Years of struggling with DD's sleep patterns finally makes sense.

[Anonymous]

It can go either way, but sleep problems often accompany ADHD. I have 2 kids with combined type, and I had combined type as a kid. I went to sleep easily and slept really late in the morning (then fidgeted my way through the day) -- it was often very, very difficult to rouse me. One of my kids has trouble sleeping and wakes up very early every morning. Melatonin helped her some. As she ages, it seems to be getting a bit better -- still and early riser, but stays asleep better during the night.
THe other kid stays up very late--can't get to sleep--and then sleeps in late and is tough to rouse. We've tried melatonin with him but it seems to have zero effect.

[Anonymous]

Mine doesn't. He can't go to sleep at night and is up late, and then is a bear to wake up for school, so I have the reverse problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It can go either way, but sleep problems often accompany ADHD. I have 2 kids with combined type, and I had combined type as a kid. I went to sleep easily and slept really late in the morning (then fidgeted my way through the day) -- it was often very, very difficult to rouse me. One of my kids has trouble sleeping and wakes up very early every morning. Melatonin helped her some. As she ages, it seems to be getting a bit better -- still and early riser, but stays asleep better during the night.
THe other kid stays up very late--can't get to sleep--and then sleeps in late and is tough to rouse. We've tried melatonin with him but it seems to have zero effect.

Just got some advice from our doc on melationin---to give it 30-45 minutes before DC goes to bed (we had been doing it more like 5 minutes before bedtime). In fact, we were told we could also try two hours earlier. We switched this week to giving it about 30 minutes before bedtime, and bedtime has been far easier, with DD going to sleep easily. BTW, we were also warned about the bluelight effects of using cellphones (including iphones), which stimulate activity much more than other screens do. The doctor suggested cutting off phones two hours before bedtime.