Keeping autistic child safe when sleeping

briancharles5612

Hi,

any advice welcome. Our 3 year old currently shares with us. Main reason for this is he can’t get through the night otherwise and we are worried he will hurt himself. What I mean by that is he moves about all over the bed. 180 degrees and top and bottom of bed etc. Some nights he ends up right on the edge of the bed and we are worried he will fall off. So much so we are going to have to put our mattress on the floor today to protect him. I wake up as best I can but worry one day I won’t in time and he will be hurt.

I’m worried about his quality of sleep and his safety. 

poppy123456

HI,

Have you thought about buying a bed guard for his bed? You can buy them in various lengths and designs. It can't be healthly for either of you having your child sleep with you. There's several in this link.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=bed+guard+for+kids&adgrpid

briancharles5612

he’s very tall so would climb over it is the problem sadly.

poppy123456

I took it as "he moves about in his sleep" It's not healthy to sleep with the mattress on the floor because air can't circulate around the bed.

Cher_Alumni

Hiya @briancharles5612

Sorry to hear you are experiencing disrupted sleep and the worry of your son hurting himself.  You must be very tired with it all.

I think you might benefit from speaking to someone in our Sleep Right service.  This is a free online support service for families of disabled children that aims to improve quality of sleep.  It's currently only open to people in certain areas, namely those with children who are:

• 2 to 18 in London, and Leeds

• 4 to 18 in Peterborough

• 2 to 19 in Northamptonshire

If you are in these locations, click the link above for details on how to apply.

If not, I'd recommend giving the National Autistic Helpline a call or email for some specialist advice.  You can find their details on this helpline webpage.  

One of our members might have another idea, but unfortunately I'm stumped.  I really hope it gets better for you all soon.

briancharles5612

I don’t believe we have much choice though. The bars could cause more harm than good.

briancharles5612

We are on a sleep charities waiting list but they still haven’t called and we don’t live in those areas sadly. Autism helpline said to call them which we had already done.

poppy123456

You can buy edge protectors for the bars which will stop your child from hurting theirself. You can also buy inflatable bed rails.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shrunks-Sleep-Security-Inflatable-Rails/dp/B00J0YTT72/ref