Our doctor informed us, and I have read that children with autism often have sleep difficulties. They have trouble with falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night, etc. So it goes for Belle. She sure does love to fight sleep! When she has a routine with school, and a scheduled nap time she usually does very well. For the most part she gets a good night of sleep, it’s just getting her to close her eyes for the first time.
She will do just about anything to avoid falling asleep. Late night snacks (that we don’t usually allow); going outside (that we don’t usually allow); climbing on the furniture (that we don’t usually allow); and running as fast as she can back and forth while yelling (we let this one slide). She also likes to collect a lot of her things, and pile them in bed with her (see “It’s the Little Things“).
A scheduling conflict?
Unfortunately, throughout the summer, we’ve been slacking on our sleep schedule. Belle sleeps in, and takes late naps, which in turn causes her to stay up later at night than she should. I know that we’re the adults. We should pick a schedule, and stick to that schedule. But we struggle because we have yet to find one that works really well for us. The only nighttime routine that we can seem to keep up with is a bath to try and help with relaxation. I’m not so convinced that it works as well as it’s supposed to, though!
I’m strongly considering trying out essential oils, and I am in the process of researching what brands and types of oil are the best to use.
I figured I’d make this post a discussion post that gets an update from time to time. So, if you have some tried and true experiments that have worked for you, and would like to share with everyone, it would be greatly appreciated! As I find things that work for us I will share them, as well.
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