HELP!
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| Mon, 01-01-2007 - 8:25pm |
Hi everybody! I hope everyone had a great holiday! I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels like the last month has flown by at light speed.
Okay, so although kinda OT because I need help/advice about my NT 3yo ds, but I'm starting to wonder if our issue is related to some sensory problems. I figure that you guys would be able to help determine that better than any others.
Here is the thing--he has been extremely (I mean big time) attached to the binky. The babysitter even says he is by far way more attached than any other child she has ever seen. Well, we had him wrap all of the binkys up and leave out for santa to take to the North Pole to give to the baby elves. Since then he's only asked for the binky a handful of times (and only during the first two days), but he doesn't sleep! I mean he may nod off for 15mins to an hour, then he's up crying. He will be up and down like that (for varying lenghts of time) until the sun comes up. I'm getting less sleep than when either of my kids were newborns! We've tried keeping him up late (which is hard since he seems to nod off during the day since he hasn't been sleeping well (and we have not been allowing him to nap)), tried white noise in the background, tried letting him sleep in our bed, and he does have a blanky he's attached to that he sleeps with as well as a nightlight. So here are the questions...
(a)what do we do??? (b) although he appears to be quite nt in most areas, after reading The Out of Sync Child I do know that he probably does fit into some hyposensitive SID area (he throws himself into objects, but is very clumsy, loves to spin, has to touch and smell everything all of the time (which is both annoying and humerous depending upon where we are), the spicier the better with food....etc.etc. so could this not be an attachment thing necessarily, but could this be a sensory input thing that we have now deprived him of? (c)or are we jumping the gun because we are sleep deprived, and just thinking he should be seeing an improvement and getting better sleeping without it after a little over a week?
I hope someone has some suggestions, or slap me into reality if we are just being impatient. At this point my hubby and I are seriously contemplating giving the binky back at bedtime if this continues for a week or so longer.
HELP! Oh, and thanks for letting me rant a bit.
Heather

Well at first it may have been an attachment thing but if it goes on much longer he will make this new sleep schedule a routine so you do want to try to address it asap. When you are overtired as he is it gets really hard to get into a good deep sleep and get on a good routine.
Would you consider giving him just the tiniest dose of melatonin for a few nights to help him get back on a regular sleep schedule? Try like 0.5mg.
If not that then maybe some chamomile prior to bed and an epsom salt bath. OR a bath with lavendar and chamomile and some of that same in his room either in a linen spray or aromatherapy oil. It will help relax him some and get over the hump.
Renee
This sounds bad but as a Mom of a binky lover for almost 5 years I have to say I wish my other two would have taken one.
I know a lot of people disagree with me, but I am PRO binky,lol. If he just has it when he is sleeping, I see no problem with it. Lots of older kids suck their thumb, what difference is the binky? Good luck with whatever you decide!
Chrissy
Ya know, I will admit, I am not anti binky at all.
However, being more than a week post binky and having already made that transition I would be reluctant to go back too quickly unless it definitely, truly was a sensory need and there was nothing else to be done. It may be confusing to him now to go back.
If it is a transitional kind of thing I would likely try some other options first before going back to the binky at this particular point.
Renee
At this point, after waiting a week I would try the things you suggested too. They are the things I would try too instead of being the kind of parent that says "NO ITS GONE, DEAL WITH IT!" It is a much more kinder way of doing things, and it considers their feelings in the process.
But as a parent that deals with a child that has never let me sleep in 10 years, I would of just said, Oh He// have the binky lol. But, only if the other things didn't work.