The early weeks and months of sleep deserve their very own post which I have slowly been working on. Sleep was definitely one of the red flags for me that something was up. Right back to the day my baby girl was born. But here and now, the current focus of sleep issues are Night Terrors. With a capital NT.
I can't really remember when the night terrors began. I think they began around the age of two. The reason I say that is because I had a newborn then too and I remember making sure that hubby was on duty for the night terrors so I could get some sleep when baby boy was sleeping. Back then, they were not as frequent. Maybe a few times a week. She would stay in her bed and scream and then one of us would go to her and lay with her until she fell back asleep which back then was about a half hour I think. She was easier to rouse from the depths of zombie land back then too. She would stay in her bed and it would usually happen sometime before midnight.
The terrors became more frequent around the beginning of JK. Since that time there is rarely a night that goes by that does not include one. She goes to bed around 8:00 and they pretty consistently happen shortly after 9:00 now. More recently she has started to get out of her bed. Just now I heard her screaming for me and I went in and she was out of bed by her window. This time I didn't even hear her feet hit the floor and all I'm doing is buying some wag jags while I'm on my iPad. Very quiet! It reminded me to finish up this post that I've been working on for a few weeks. We just got off a three night hiatus from the terrors which is a bloody miraculous thing around here! So we celebrated with ... A smile, a couple of deep breaths and a feeling of relaxation and accomplishment. Even though there was not one single thing that either of us did differently to achieve those terror-less nights.
So! I've done my best to keep track of an entire week of sleep patterns. Each night, bed time was 7:30-8:00 and we had our regular daily routine of school during the week and various things over the weekend. I've never figured out why there are night terrors. They don't seem to correlate to anything in particular; food, overstimulation, understimulation, TV time, school, weekend, whatever. I don't really expect to figure it out. I guess that's why the puzzle piece is the symbol for autism.
9:05pm
- screaming for mommy
- found her walking around her room yelling, "No! I don't want to go!"
- inconsolable and never wakes up while walking around
- held her hand and take her into our bedroom to see daddy and she walked right back out
- fidgety and can't stop moving in bed for 10 minutes before falling back asleep
Wed Oct 15
9:10pm
- fairly simple, easy going night terror (as night terrors go around here)
- woke up yelling for mommy
- took five or so minutes to settle and I laid down with her for about 5 minutes
Thu Oct 16
5:30am
- she got up, went pee (new rule before coming into our bed to try to potty train her at night)
- came into our bed and fell back asleep fairly easily
9:12pm
- screaming for mommy
- yelling "No!"
- seemed to come out of her daze a bit when I started talking about how much I like her new jammies
- went back to sleep quickly (5 minutes) with very little fidgeting
Fri Oct 17
3:00am
- in our bed, slept fairly still through the night
No Night Terror! But...
11:00pm
- daddy thought it was a good idea to try going without a pull-up for some bizarre reason (even though she has never had a dry pull up before) and didn't tell me this was happening
- she came to our bed and wanted in
- noticed she was wet and she wasn't wearing a pull up, daddy fessed up
- then came the screaming... Siren. I had to help her change her soaking wet pajamas and get her cleaned up and in new ones--with pull-up
- siren... Her blankie has pee on it. She can't sleep without her blankie. It's not a typical blankie crush. It's a real life first class emergency can't live without the unbearable pain if the blankie is not in my grip kinda crush
- I find myself washing the blankie in the sink with dishsoap by hand. Gross
- I find myself emptying the dryer of clean clothes and laying in bed waiting for the blankie to dry, yes she's still awake... Can't sleep without blankie!
12:30am
- I've got the blankie, kid in my bed ready to sleep now... me wide awake from the drama
- start to fall asleep around 1:20am
1:30am
- the boy comes in and wants to sleep in our bed
- so! (Said with a sigh...) we all cram in together and just do it. No sleep for me. Not sure about Jamie. Kids seem to survive and sleep like "babies"
Wow. That was a long night.
Sat Oct 18
9:10pm
- mommy and daddy just starting to try to watch a movie, I hear two feet hit the floor just seconds after the first yell, I hit the floor running
- she is out of her bed in the middle of her room wandering around
- same routine, disoriented, out of touch with the present world and reality, wants to hug me, doesn't want to hug me, wants up, doesn't want up, all the while ringing the siren
- eventually calm her down about ten minutes later and get back to he movie (the latest xmen instalment...awesome btw!)
Sun Oct 19
- it's Monday now so I can't remember ... I know. It was only last night. But they all blend. Night terrors more often than no night terrors...
- oh yeah! Now I remember!
3:00am
- I wake up, can't sleep, start reading on iBooks
3:15am
- boy comes in, climbs over me, lays down and wants to chat, wants me to turn off iPad and roll over to face him
- I oblige because I love the damn kid
- he tells me a few things in his sleep like that I have black all over my face (so he says) and "why is that?" He doesn't wait for an answer because he is sleeping!
- just about asleep...
4:00am
- girl comes in, climbs over me, is forced to sleep beside her brother, they are both kickers and boy still talking in his sleep here and there
4:30am
- I decide this is bullshit and I'm sleeping in her super comfy bed if no one else will!
- I go in and try to get to sleep before my stupid alarm goes off at 5:45am
So THAT'S why I can't remember what happened last night!
Mon Oct 20
9:10pm
- awake with the siren cry
- she has no idea where she is and is yelling for mommy but can't comprehend that I am right there in front of her talking and looking in her eyes
- turn on all the lights, try to hug, wants one, doesn't want one
- points to the curtains, I tell her, "it's a curtain, nothing is there"
- points to the bed, I tell her, "it's her blanket, nothing is there"
- stands up on bed, sits down, stands up again, sits down again, completely disoriented and not present in this world (hey maybe she's a time traveller. Just joking!)
- screaming the siren, she finally pushes her way out of the bed and I encourage her to walk into my bedroom where the light is on and things are normal
- she leaves my bedroom and I encourage her to walk to the kitchen (last time she walked to the fridge, touched it and seemed to come out of this trance)
- she wants up, she wants down, she wants up, she is heavy, she weighs 44 lbs, ouch
- seems to be coming out of it and we head back to her bedroom, the siren is done, can't believe her brother did not wake up, can't believe the neighbours did not wake up
- I lay down with her for about ten minutes where she is fidgety and wants me closeby touching her in some way but she's hot and shakes off the blankets
- finally gets to sleep with blankie in hand, we will never get rid of that thing and if we did I'm not sure how she would cope with panic and her need for the soft ribbon between her fingers (which she rubs in her sleep)
Sleep. One of the popular challenges for kids with ASD.
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