It's 4:00 AM, Why Won't My Kid Sleep?

This morning at 4:00 AM, our daughter finally decided to go to bed. Now, many of you are probably
saying, "What an awful parent! Make her go to bed."

Heh, heh, yeah...

Sara is autistic. There's a laundry list of symptoms that go along with the Big "A". I really wish we could have ordered them a la carte:

"Hmmm, let's see. I'll have the OCD and phenomenal memory, please."

Trust me, no one would ever say, "Oooh, I'll take the insomnia!"

For the first five years of her life, Sara slept no more than three hours per night - and that was on a good night. Those three hours were rarely in a row, and they never began before about two in the morning.

My wife took the brunt of this, I confess. I sleep like the dead. Literally. I die in my sleep about ten times per hour according to the sleep study.

Laurie was up with her constantly. In Vegas, we had a Little Tykes swing with an attached sliding board in the house. The theory was if you had her exercise enough, she'd get tired and go to sleep. I can still see Laurie helping Sara climb the ladder and slide down at 3:30 in the morning.

Then came the miracle supplement, Melatonin. All natural, non-habit forming, same as eating a Thanksgiving turkey with a side order of non-narcotic bliss. Melatonin, the sweet sound of it.

Melatonin at 10:30 PM meant one sleeping child by 11:00 PM. And, for the first time in her life, she slept through the night.

And, that sleep wasn't just mana from heaven for Laurie and I. A developing brain needs sleep, and Sara's autistic behaviors began to improve after she started getting a normal eight hours.

Last week, we started reading about possible hormonal side effects from Melatonin, so we stopped using it to see if she could maintain a normal sleep pattern. The first couple of nights went fine, but last night and the night before? Not so much.

Now, there are positives to her insomnia. I get a lot of writing done while she's awake. Laurie got to watch almost the entire first season of The Vampire Diaries yesterday (Don't judge, we're between Game of Thrones and Walking Dead season here, folks - and, at least the Mystic Falls vampires don't sparkle.)

We finally broke down and gave her a tiny, tiny amount of Melatonin at 3:30 AM. At 4:00, she emerged from her lair carrying two handfuls of Christmas socks (I don't know, it's the whole obsession cycle thing. Next week it might be magic markers - anything is better than her obsession with tampon applicators. Try explaining that one at Olive Garden.) Christmas socks in the hands coupled with a loud proclamation of "Go to bed!" means she's ready.

By 4:30, she had fallen asleep in her bed with Cinderella playing on her small television. One of us has to stay awake till we're sure she's out - Sara has a tendency to wander. There's only so much reliance you can put on security systems, multiple locks, and a hyper-vigilant wolf hybrid on the first floor. Besides, the dog had a long night as well.

Laurie finally went to sleep, and I waited Sara out. Luckily, I had last night's episode of The Strain on the iPad. Somebody needs to teach that old guy how to clear a room. He was scaring me to death turning his back on doors to rooms he hadn't checked yet. Sure enough, he ended up surrounded by vampires right around the time my Sleeping Beauty gave up on Cinderella and, finally, went to sleep.

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