Sleep schedules for those with TS or co-morbid conditions?

[ilovedogs]

I've been meaning to ask a more detailed question about sleep patterns. My ds has never been a LONG sleeper. He always seemed to require much less sleep than his friends, even when he was a toddler. I've never had behavioral issues with him nor has he ever acted sleepy through the day so I figured he inherited my father's ability to get by on less sleep than other people. Last night we got home late from spending time with friends and he went to bed at 10:30, he still got up at 7 AM. Of course, I was the last one to go to bed last night at well after 11 and I was already awake (just resting in bed) before ds even got up!

 

So, on average he gets anywhere between 8 1/2 to 10 hours of sleep. He sleeps through the night and doesn't complain about sleep problems so I guess it's ok. I just worry about his development and I know the 'experts' recommend that kids get 11 hours. How much sleep do your kids get and do you see any sleep problems like night time waking, trouble falling asleep, etc?

Thanks,

 

Bonnie

[CSP]

Hi Bonnie,

 

My son gets 10 hours of sleep. If he has been real active during the day he falls a sleep real fast, but on days when it is raining and he had not had a chance to get outside he will take sometimes 20 min to get to sleep.

 

I read somewhere that everyone should get to bed before 10pm. I can't remember why, I think it was you get a deeper sleep if you do.

 

CP

[Caryn]

When under stress ds sleeps less, about 10 hours. When he wasn't on his special diet he slept only 7 or 8 hours. Last summer he had a growth spurt and slept 12 hrs a day (also had no stress).

We limit computer in evenings and get him into bed early. We allow him to wind down for about 30-45 minutes in his room. He reads a lot and plays quietly. Then we tuck him in, pillow talk with him and turn out the lights. This seems to work in getting him to fall asleep by 8:30-9 every night. He wakes around 7:20. If he stayed up to 10:30 he would still wake at 7, so I know exactly what you mean.

[ilovedogs]

When under stress ds sleeps less, about 10 hours. When he wasn't on his special diet he slept only 7 or 8 hours. Last summer he had a growth spurt and slept 12 hrs a day (also had no stress).

We limit computer in evenings and get him into bed early. We allow him to wind down for about 30-45 minutes in his room. He reads a lot and plays quietly. Then we tuck him in, pillow talk with him and turn out the lights. This seems to work in getting him to fall asleep by 8:30-9 every night. He wakes around 7:20. If he stayed up to 10:30 he would still wake at 7, so I know exactly what you mean.

This is why I'm thinking I need to get him to bed a bit earlier. I figure if I can get him to bed at least 1/2 hour earlier he may still sleep until the same time! He does sometimes sleep until 8:30- 9 AM but it's very infrequent, probably during growth spurts and in the winter. Most times he's up by 7-7:30, no matter what time he goes to bed! I'm just so bad at being consistent at getting us going to bed. I'm sure he'd be compliant if I told him what the plan is.....I think?

B

[faith]

I would like my son to be in bed, lights out by 9pm but that doesn't happen most nights mainly because of his slow pokiness and inability to hurry along and get all the things we need done before bedtime comes. he is very able to stay up quite late, but does not want to wake up in the morning, it is usually a battle. So he really needs and wants the sleep, but can't seem to get to bed early enough, and even when we do I notice he takes some time to fall asleep anyway, so maybe that's just his sleep pattern, late to bed, late to rise. As I write this, we are just finishing up bedtime snack, brush teeth, and he is still wanting some time to watch tv now. pretty much same routine every night. I am like that too, would rather stay up late even if just watching tv, and hate to wake up and get out of the bed in the morning.

 

What exactly are you trying to figure, if he is getting enough sleep?

 

Faith

[Chemar]

my sons and husband all have a poor night sleep cycle. late to bed late to rise. real night owls,whereas I have always been more early bird .....I am way past my bedtime tonite LOL

 

it was always very hard getting my son to school on time in the mornings and he has always struggled to get to sleep at night, nomatter how tired. My oldest(non TS son) has the same pattern. My husband too and his dad had it as well.

 

genetic?

[guy123]

My ds has never been a LONG sleeper. He always seemed to require much less sleep than his friends, even when he was a toddler.

 

So, on average he gets anywhere between 8 1/2 to 10 hours of sleep.

 

I'm confused. 8.5-10 hours of sleep IS a lot. But you think he requires less sleep than normal? What do you consider normal?

 

Or did I completely misread what you wrote?

[ilovedogs]

My ds has never been a LONG sleeper. He always seemed to require much less sleep than his friends, even when he was a toddler.

 

So, on average he gets anywhere between 8 1/2 to 10 hours of sleep.

I'm confused. 8.5-10 hours of sleep IS a lot. But you think he requires less sleep than normal? What do you consider normal?

 

Or did I completely misread what you wrote?

Well, most of his friends go to bed at 9 and are up at 7:30, that's 10 1/2 hrs of sleep. Some get even more than that. So, I guess I'm wondering if what he's getting is enough for a 10 year old? 8 1/2 to 10 hrs is plenty of sleep for adults but I always thought that kids needed more sleep. And, 10 hrs for him is not the norm, it's the exception such as during a growth spurt.

[guy123]

How old is he now? I may have misinterpreted your post.

 

on a related note, I love sleeping

[Guest]

As a child, I had a very difficult time sleeping. It took me forever to get to sleep and my mom usually had to rock me, rub my back, or lie with me until I fell asleep. I would go to sleep around 10 and wake up ready to roll for the day by 4:30 to 5:30 AM. It's changed since I've gotten older. Zinc has helped me tremendously to get to sleep quickly without lying in bed for hours before falling asleep. I have always been a very light sleeper and under normal conditions I wake up 1-2 times a night.

 

Carolyn

[littleDaniel]

My LD has a very hard time falling asleep. He has darkness phobias and a constant feeling of the need to go to the bathroom (phobia of going on himself while sleeping).

 

I could start putting him to bed at 6:30 but he won't actually fall asleep until 9:30.

 

Our doctor recommended melatonin? Anyone have any experience with it? Could it help or worsten the tics?

[guy123]

Our doctor recommended melatonin? Anyone have any experience with it? Could it help or worsten the tics?

 

I've used melatonin. I don't know if it worsens tics or not. I didn't notice it.

 

Melatonin can be wonderful. I have talked to people online who had chronic sleep problems that benzos and Ambien couldn't fix, yet melatonin gave them a full night's sleep on their first usage. Basically melatonin is produced by your brain when it's time to go to sleep, so it's naturally occuring. As such, you want to start with the lowest possible dosage.

 

I've seen capsules in the store that are 5mg. I think that's ridiculously high. When I used it (occasional use, years ago) I got 3mg pills that were scored with a "+" so they could be broken in half and then in half again. I usually took 1/4 of a pill, so that would be .75mg. I am a 160-170lb male for reference. Always start with a tiny dose, and I've even heard anecdotal evidence that smaller doses can be more effective than higher doses.

 

You take it about an hour before you want to go to bed. I seem to recall something about it being more effective in a dark environment (perhaps that's a cue to your body that it's night time and time to go to sleep). It doesn't produce a chemical tiredness like benzos or diphenhydramine HCl (benadryl), and it doesn't say "ok, you're going to fall asleep NOW" like Ambien. It's a natural sleep. You turn down/off the lights, lay in bed, and fall asleep.

 

In the morning you may be a bit groggy until you actually get out of bed and start moving around. I think this has something to do with reuptake. I never had a "hangover" feeling the following day. Usually by the time I was out of the shower in the morning I was feeling as awake as any other time.

 

I like to compare sleeping pills like this:

 

Benadryl - makes you drowsy whether you want it or not (which is why I can't take benadryl for allergies), wake up with a hangover

 

Nyquil - you fall asleep comfortably but wake up in the middle of the night with a racing heart (not anymore now that they're taken the pseudo-ephedrine out of the formula). Possible hangover.

 

Benzos - a super comfy, relaxed feeling that doesn't make you tired per se, but relaxes you to the point that falling asleep is easy. Easily addictive and easy to build a dependence on (ie. "omg, I can't fall asleep! I haven't had my Ativan! What am I gonna do? I have to be at work in 8 hours! I'm not even sleepy! oh geez this sucks!")

 

Ambien - chemically puts you to sleep. You don't have a choice. It's not "oh, I feel tired, I should think about going to bed." It's "what the ######? I just woke up on the couch and it's 7am! I remember taking the pill and then sitting down on the couch thinking that I should go get ready for bed when the next commercial comes on... wow I must have fallen asleep!"

 

Melatonin - lets you fall asleep naturally. It never really made me feel tired or drowsy... it just let me fall asleep. I don't know how else to explain it.

 

 

 

I've heard you're not supposed to use melatonin long term but I can't remember why. Oh, here's an interesting fact: supposedly there are certain dosing schedules that let you prevent/avoid jet lag (I haven't tried this but I've seen the protocol).