Sleep help for an older kid

[fancynewbeesly]

Up until this past December when Reese relapsed she has always been a decent sleeper. She never woke in the middle of the night or came to our room until the AM. Her normal schedule was 7:30/8-6:00/6:30

But the hospital and her meds have completely messed up her schedule. She still goes to sleep at the same time but always wakes up at 3/4am and crawls in bed with us because she cat fall back to sleep.

I believe that coincides with vitals in the hospital. Steroids also gave her such bad insomnia (in fact next time she is on them the doctors are prescribing her a low dose of Ativan).

I know there are so many things working against us. And usually after a few days she sleeps through the night only to back in the hospital and for the cycle to continue.

Any suggestions?

[Pistol]

With her being older, can you put a book or something next to her bed that if she wakes up she can flip through it until she is able to fall back to sleep. I think just keeping her in her bed (even if she’s waking up) will help her to get back to normal quicker than with her coming to your room when she wakes up.

[fancynewbeesly]

That is the thing-she hasn’t been back home long enough. We were there for 4.5 weeks. Home for a week and a half (and part of the time she was on steroids which causes insomnia in her she was up for the day at midnight! ( a few times). Then she was back in for 4 days. We are home for 3. And next week back in for 5 days.

So not any consistency either yet.

[honeylemon]

Poor girl. I take Ativan for my insomnia from treatments too.

Have you thought about teaching her some breathing techniques to help her fall asleep again? Anxiety, fear, intrusive thoughts all play a roll in my insomnia and controlled breathing sometimes helps.

This may be random but there’s a YouTube channel called Cosmic Kids that my 7yo likes. It teaches coping skills like that. It’s actually kids yoga but the “Zen Den” series has videos like “Movies in my Mind” and other led meditations. They’ve been really helpful for my kid when he can’t go to sleep.

I’m no help with staying asleep. That’s the worst part. Medication is the only thing that works for me.

[trueblue]

We use melatonin to reset sleep schedules when necessary - not sure if it would help bridge that time frame? Zarbees makes a 1 mg chewable that we like.

It does make DS2 have some weird dreams and he's wicked crabby the next morning if he isn't able to wake up on his own (but he's wicked crabby if he didn't fall asleep until late and we have to wake him so we're dealing with it either way.)

[jorkzy]

I have no advice for the current situation that hasn't been mentioned already but when you go back in for the next set, can you see if there's a way to not do vitals at 3-4am? Can they wait until 7? Or even 6? Unless she's already awake then sure do them whenever. Just so that element isn't set into her system after your next stay?

[easternshoregirl]

My neighbor has also had success with melatonin for her 9yo. Maybe check with her docs?

[Deleted]

My oldest had an arterial bleed after a routine t&a and on day 4 around 10 pm she woke up choking and vomiting her own blood. We delt with tons of sleep issues after that.

It really just took time for her to be ok but we did do 1.5mg of melatonin (midnite brand) for almost a year and she responded well to that. We moved the bedroom around and got all new bedding. We also let her sleep on the couch if she wanted when she woke up in the night. I think giving her a choice of two safe sleeping areas made her feel better. Our bed was off limits due to be being pregnant and needing the room. I did buy her a weighted blanket but it gets so hot here she usually kicks it off.

Hope you guys find something that works! Waking up a lot is no fun for anyone.

[Deleted]

Idk with all the treatment she is getting it may be necessary for q4 vitals but you could ask for every 8 hr for them to skip the 4 am ones at least. It doesn't hurt to ask.

[Deleted]

I'm sorry. I don't have kids so I can't give valid advice on that aspect, but I can attest to the hospital completely screwing up my sleep patterns. I have (unfortunately) spent a a lot of time in the hospital. It got to the point that the only way I could sleep at all in the hospital was with Ambien. Most of it was due to them waking me up so much for vitals, IVs, but a lot of it was also due to being uncomfortable (pain, and I can't sleep on my back).

For me, when I'm home I don't like to take Amiben because it's too strong. I do, however, take Ativan and Benedryl every night.

Due to the steroids and schedule upheaval, I would ask her Dr. if you could give her Melatonin and/or Benedryl to start. That may be enough to get her back into a better sleep cycle when she's home.

I'm sorry. I'm sure it's not easy dealing with this on top of everything else.

[cyprissa]

I think maybe some stories on tape or a book with a flashlight might be helpful in making her sleepy again. I have always struggled with insomnia (granted, without all the additional struggles she has from the treatments and hospital stays) and those things really helped me as a kid.

[klondike]

Certain foods at bedtime can aid sleep. Oatmeal or other whole grains, bananas, nuts or nut butter, dark chocolate. Also, dehydration can affect melatonin production. I don't know how her appetite is now so this may not help.

[flaviadeluce]

Is she falling asleep as soon as she climbs into bed with you or is she up for a long time? Tbh I wouldn’t put great effort into anything in terms of getting her back into her own bed until treatment allows you to be home more than not.

[fancynewbeesly]

Thanks for some ideas everyone.

Truthfully it doesn’t bother us much but I am due in June and wanted to break the habit now instead of 6 months later.

She did better last night. She came into our room at 3am because her mouth was hurting (she is getting mouth sores from her chemo). After we helped her with her medicated mouthwash and chapstick she fell back to sleep in her bed so I consider it a win.