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HELP.... problems with sleep

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Elibarebum
Elibarebum Community member Posts: 11 Listener
edited September 2014 in Children, parents, and families
ds has co-slept since we brought him home, it was the only place he would sleep, and it was easier for breast feeding. over the months, the breast feeding turned into suckling all night, his has carried on for nearly 2 years. we have just come back from seeing a specialist dentist who says that ds now has to have his front 4 teeth taken out and the rest filled, this is all due to his night feeding, which not helped by an underlying condition has decayed all his teeth.
I was advised to get him to leave the boobies alone in the night, but how do I do this?
He doesn't sleep well even with the feeding and takes 5mg of melatonin on a night which will only settle him for an hour or so.
He wakes frequently in the night sometimes upset with himself because he is still tired.
He also has issues with his weight, so I thought at lease he'll be getting some calories durung the night.
I'm really at a loss as what to do any ideas really welcome.
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  • ScopeHelpline
    ScopeHelpline Community member Posts: 207 Courageous
    edited September 2015
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    Take a look at the information about sleep that you will find at:
    http://www.scope.org.uk/support/families/sleep/routine

    You will see that it also gives the contact details for Scope Sleep Solutions who we would advise you to contact.

    Yours sincerely

    Forums Moderator

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  • forgoodnesssake
    forgoodnesssake Community member Posts: 502 Pioneering
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    This sounds so familiar! What sort of CP does your son have?
    My now 12 year old with athetoid CP was very similar - sleep was a nightmare for about 4 years - he got very uncomfortable and needed to be flexed all night - he also seemed to get leg spasms which were helped by massage and such like - but he woke frequently, hardly slept at all during the day - even at just a few weeks old - and was miserable and tired! (as were we)
    I b/f him for 3 years cos he had difficulty with liquids any other way. I did often feed him for an hour or so at 5 in the morning cos sometimes he could back to sleep that way.....he was so obviously tired. He had melatonin (can't remember dose) for a year or so aged about 2 - it helped a bit but I think it sort of stopped having any effect after a while.
    We did not co-sleep with him - but in hindsight I wish we had -
    he did seem to sleep better on his front lying on top of one of us - it seemed to hold him the right way. This was still necessary occasionally up to age 7 or 8.
    He does sleep OK now, but we could find no suitable sources of support at that time - all the sleep advice about controlled crying just did not work - and we already did the routine stuff. he was simply a very spasmy and incomfortable little boy at night, for quite a long time.
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  • Elibarebum
    Elibarebum Community member Posts: 11 Listener
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    hi Eli has provisional dx of spastic quad, but I think he shows more signs of athetoid, more fluctuating muscle tone than tightness.
    he likes to sleep on me generally which at the moment I don't mind. I wouldn't say he has muscle spasms as such but, when he does wake himself up, and is trying to drift back off to sleep, he does a morrow reflex type jump, which wakes him up again.
    I don't mind about the night feeding but the dentist has said that this is just rotting his teeth, and so needs to stop. its just how?
    Eli will sleep during the day, usually I feed him to sleep, then creep out of the bed, he will stay like that for at least 45 minutes, but sometimes, he will wake up a little then settle himself back to sleep and have a good 2 hours!! this is quite few and far between though.
    I really don't want to go down the controlled crying road, I don't think It will work for us, and I believe that he has managed to make so much progress because he has been comeforted when feeling distressed . something which isn't so distressing, I don't mind him staying in our bed even, but the comfort sucking does need to stop.
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