rocking all night long | ADHD Information

Hi,  I'm new to your message board.  I have been reading several of the postings and found that the most helpful thing for me is that I am finding out more and more that my child is not the only one who...(fill in the blank).  You also give a lot of realistic and helpful advice.  So here is my concern.  My son is 8 and has been on several meds since he was 2.  He does not function well at all without them, but daytime is managed pretty well right now.  At night though, he does not sleep in a bed.  If he is in a bed it takes forever to fall asleep and is very restless all night.  So he sleeps in a rocking chair all night, which he prefers.  Several times during the night he rocks himself, not fully awake, pretty vigorously.  Does anyone else have self-stim.-type behavior at night?  Any ideas about helping him get a more restful night's sleep?  I think his lack of restful sleep definitely contributes to the nightmare child he can be in the morning.

Oh, absolutely. My 8 y/o adhd son bonks his head on the floor to fall asleep when he is overstimulated and very tired. He also hates to sleep in his bed. I bought him a weighted blanket on eBay and he puts it on the floor and sleeps ON it and not under it. The rocking is calming to your son. Get him a sleeping bag or wrap him in a pillow and blanket and let him rock. But I would also suggest you tell your doctor- my son takes over-the-counter melatonin about 45 minutes before bedtime and a warm bath. Good luck and welcome to the board. You will fi nd a lot of help here and people to hold you up when you need it.

Randy

MY SON AKSO TAKES mELATONIN OVER THE COUNTER AND IT HAS HELPED SOOO MUCH FOR SLEEP WITH HIS MEDS. HE ALSO DOES NOT LIKE HIS BED, (ANXIETY RELATED) AND SLEEPS WITH US FOR A VERY SHORT WHILE. HE IS 9.

I'm so relieved.  Actually my 10y/o with ADHD bangs himself against the wall, too.  I was almost afraid to say I had two rockers.  We have started to think that we did something to them or something.  We have quite a rhythm section at our house some nights.  The 8y/o takes melatonin before bed.  It does help him get to sleep, but I don't think he reaches deep sleep very often. 

So do I just let him sleep in the rocking chair and be happy is sleeping?  Or do I try to get him to sleep in his bed?  I picture him moving into his first apartment without no bed, but a really big recliner.

One of my older sons (who had high functioning Asbergers) used to sleep on the bathroom tile floor with the water running for years and years! He now sleeps in a bed so I wouldn't worry about the rocker if he is getting sleep.

Randy

Thanks for the reassurance!  I will mark it off my list of things to worry about for now.