Children on the Autism Spectrum often have great difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. For some it is a rare experience getting tucked in their beds and drifting right off to dreamland. When they finally do fall asleep, they may wake up several times during the night. Children with sleep disorders are not the only ones in the family affected by their inability to sleep. Their problem also affects parents and siblings who are often sleep deprived from dealing with the child who is awake half the night.

Melatonin, a hormone that the body produces in the pineal gland to let us know it is time for bed, is affected by natural light and dark. As the dark nighttime appears, melatonin tells the body that it’s time to sleep. Because we produce less melatonin as we age, the elderly often suffer with waking too often or too early, or not being able to fall asleep at all.

Those with autism, ADHD, and lack of vision often have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep through the night. Many parents have found that giving their child melatonin before bed helps them quickly get to sleep and stay asleep.

Doctors are often hesitant to recommend the use of melatonin, especially until all other measures have been tried with the child. Most parents who buy the non-prescription hormone have already tried the traditional methods of helping children get to sleep. These include having a regular schedule so that the child knows that he or she is expected to get ready to sleep plus a routine that is followed every night. The routine may include a bath or shower, brushing teeth, reading books, telling stories, or other nightly rituals. Avoiding movies or television that may scare or excite the child close to bedtime is another thing that most parents try to do.

Another method that helps many children with sleep problems is using a weighted blanket. A weighted blanket helps a child relax, and not simply from the comfort of the cozy blanket. The weight of the blanket uses deep pressure touch stimulation (DPTS) which is thought to release chemicals that calm the child naturally. The brain releases serotonin when deep pressure is applied to the body which calms the body. Serotonin converts to melatonin which is the hormone that helps the child get to sleep and stay asleep. A weighted blanket that may provide melatonin naturally, rather than using an artificial supplement, is worth trying if a child (or anyone) has a sleep problem. Many children have gone from being nearly sleepless to being able to sleep through the night when they begin to use a weighted blanket.

If parents have tried other measures and their child still has difficulty sleeping, melatonin is believed to be safe for children and adults in doses of 3 milligrams or less. Doctors will not endorse it because not enough tests have been completed that show the effects of it on children.
The use of melatonin is not new. It has been used in adults for various reasons, such as for jet lag. Our own grandson, David, takes 1.5 mg of melatonin at night and heads to bed with his weighted blanket! He sleeps much better than he did years ago.

Donna
AffordableWeightedBlankets.com