Thursday, December 08, 2011

He sleeps

Hen fell asleep at 7:23p.m. tonight. After much consideration and a conversation with his pediatrician, we decided to give melatonin a try. I gave him one quarter of a 3mg tablet. Within fifteen minutes, he had yawned three times and was ready to cuddle. After five minutes of cuddling, he was asleep. They are doing work on our building and just informed us they need to test the fire alarms. The boy has slept through the first alarm test. This may very well be the answer we have been looking for. I'm not at all excited about using medication to help him sleep. It seems like this should be something he does on his own. We have had a few nights here and there when it seemed as if we had cracked the sleep code but it always reverted to Hen being unable to wind down. He would stay up much longer than he should given his age, and he would wake the next morning and be irritable, which in turn made me irritable, which made my husband not want to come home. But what I saw tonight was magical, although the boy denied being tired even as dark circles were forming under his eyes and his yawns were echoing through the condo. He doesn't give up easy, this one. I'm curious to see how tomorrow goes. I'm hoping this will help our little one get the sleep he so clearly needs.

5 comments:

Amber said...

Hallelujah! Sleep is good. I don't know how it works with kids, but I know lots of adults who've used melatonin temporarily to help regulate their sleep schedule, so maybe this will just train his body to fall asleep more naturally. Fingers crossed--keep us posted!

Abcdpdx said...

I have worked with LOTS of kids who take melatonin. it's great!!!! yay, sleep!!

Rachele said...

Yay sleep! I don't consider melatonin a medication. More like a supplement. I guess that's a fine distinction to some...

Megan said...

Yeah, I'm with RHG on that medication vs. supplement. Either way, when I was having trouble with waking up every hour (after years of this going on), it was taking Ambien for just a couple of weeks to set my body back on the right track. I would be surprised if after a few weeks/months of taking it, his body naturally adjusts to the routine. Good luck!

Dr. A said...

As a person who has had issues with sleep my whole life, you are doing a wonderful thing helping the boy sleep!!!!! When did he wake up?