Yes, you read that correctly...entire nights of sleep have finally decided to visit our house!!
The script we got for Brycen did not work. It actually seemed to make it worse in some ways, so after a week and half of that, we decided to wean him off. Another Autism-mommy had suggested a combo of drowsy Benadryl and Melatonin which is what she uses for her young son for his sleep disturbances. At the same time, Brycen was battling a runny-nose, sneezing, coughing, feverish cold too, as well as his eczema has really started to pop up again so thought the Benadryl could possibly help with those things too.
It worked on the FIRST NIGHT...and has for 7 out of 8 nights since he has been taking it! The one night he woke up, he just came into the room and after Mike took him back to his bed, he was fast asleep within 15 minutes. For those who are just catching up on Brycen and his sleep, he has never slept this many nights in a row in his entire life...almost 4 1/2 years! While most babies begin to sleep consistently through the night at a few months old, we have never had that luxury with him. Though it was easier when he was younger as we could get him back to sleep in 1/2 to 1 hour then...as he got older, he would be awake up to 3 1/2 hours in the middle of the night. It only took a few nights of this when I realized my alarm going off in the morning was not near as annoying as it had always been.
The hope was that we would see a decrease in his aggression and an increase in his attention span with full nights of sleep, but unfortunately we have not noticed a difference in that. I am planning to still talk to the doctor about a day-time med to help in these areas, but as for sleep, we are just going to keep going like this. I have read that some children develop a tolerance to the sleepy side effects of the Benadryl, so I guess we will cross that bridge if it comes.
Until then, sleep on, Timmer household! We won't take this for granted!
"When one door of happiness closes, another opens;
but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."
Helen Keller
Monday, November 8, 2010
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Autism and Our Family
"Autism"----It's one word that can change the life of a child and family in so many ways. Autism Spectrum Disorders are being diagnosed at a rate of 1 in 68 children currently. If you do not already know someone that has been diagnosed, the statistics say it won't be long before you do.
Our son developed typically until around the time he turned 2 years old. We heard words...we saw him play with other kids...we watched as he played with his toys appropriately...we made eye contact with him...overall we understood his wants and needs. In a matter of a few months, that was all taken away from him. He began lining up toys, lost all of his words and signs except for one word "ball", ignored other kids, could not sleep through the night, lost eye contact and the ability to follow directions, and he had no way of letting us know what he wanted or how he felt. It was heartbreaking to see something happening to our child that we couldn't stop!
Brycen began receiving home therapy 1-2 times per month for about 6 months before we realized it wasn't just developmental delays. We knew it was Autism...we just didn't want to say it outloud to anyone. He was officially diagnosed with Autism (classic form and regressive), as well as Mental Retardation in August 2009 by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
We continue to learn as we make our way through this journey with Brycen and we will continue to share this journey with you on this blog! The blog has been a great therapy for us to be able to vent our frustrations and struggles with accepting that we have a child with special needs, while sharing how blessed we are to have a child teach us what life truly means. It has also been a great way to inform others of his progress and changes over the last couple of years.
Thank you for your support of Brycen and our family! We hope you are able to learn something through this blog no matter if you are a parent of a child with special needs or a neurotypical child, a teacher or therapist, a family member, or just someone that is interested in the journey that a family goes on as they learn their child is battling a life-long disorder.
Our son developed typically until around the time he turned 2 years old. We heard words...we saw him play with other kids...we watched as he played with his toys appropriately...we made eye contact with him...overall we understood his wants and needs. In a matter of a few months, that was all taken away from him. He began lining up toys, lost all of his words and signs except for one word "ball", ignored other kids, could not sleep through the night, lost eye contact and the ability to follow directions, and he had no way of letting us know what he wanted or how he felt. It was heartbreaking to see something happening to our child that we couldn't stop!
Brycen began receiving home therapy 1-2 times per month for about 6 months before we realized it wasn't just developmental delays. We knew it was Autism...we just didn't want to say it outloud to anyone. He was officially diagnosed with Autism (classic form and regressive), as well as Mental Retardation in August 2009 by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
We continue to learn as we make our way through this journey with Brycen and we will continue to share this journey with you on this blog! The blog has been a great therapy for us to be able to vent our frustrations and struggles with accepting that we have a child with special needs, while sharing how blessed we are to have a child teach us what life truly means. It has also been a great way to inform others of his progress and changes over the last couple of years.
Thank you for your support of Brycen and our family! We hope you are able to learn something through this blog no matter if you are a parent of a child with special needs or a neurotypical child, a teacher or therapist, a family member, or just someone that is interested in the journey that a family goes on as they learn their child is battling a life-long disorder.
Awesome!!!!!! Are you a whole new person with all that sleep you are getting??? Hoping and praying that this lasts for you guys!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited for you guys!!! It's amazing what a full night's sleep will do for a person!
ReplyDelete